University of Virginia CASTL Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning Improving impacts of classrooms: Professional Development and Classroom Observation Robert C. Pianta, Ph.D. University of Virginia CASTL

Questions and challenges for policy, research, and training in education What are offered to students in classrooms? Do interactions with teachers and experiences in classrooms matter for students? Can observation leverage improvements quality, and effectiveness of teachers/teaching? Measure, validate, improve teacher quality at scale through standardized observation

Results of large-scale observational studies National-level studies National Center for Early Development and Learning (NCEDL) NICHD Study of Early Child Care Up to 1,000 settings observed at preschool, K, 1, 3, 5 ― more than 4,000 classrooms Largest set of systematic standardized classroom observation in U.S. schools All teachers credentialed/certified

Observations and large-scale applications Trade-offs and decisions Multiple versus single occasions Length of the “window” Time of day / content of instruction Unit of analysis – global or micro Classroom-level or child-level Training demands and reliability Applicable across diverse settings No system can address every concern Ultimate criterion is link to child outcomes

Describing opportunities to learn: Counting behaviors, activities, practices Vast majority of interaction/activity is whole group or individual seatwork Few, if any, social or instructional interactions between teacher and individual child Mostly literacy activities Exceptional variation within and across grades Consistent patterns from pre-k to 5th grade

How do students spend time? High levels (30%) of “business/routine” activity pk-5: managing materials, routines High levels of “basic skills” focus 7:1 in pk-1; 14:1 in 3-5 Ratio of listening, sitting, watching: Doing 10: pk-1 1,3,5 Summary characterization of the classrooms (NICHD ECCRN 2002, 2004)

Rating interactions: What is the CLASS? Derived from developmentally-informed analysis of settings and putative impacts on broad-based outcomes. Focus on dimensions of teacher-student interaction in 3 domains - a theoretical claim about latent structure of classroom settings Emotional Support Organization / Management Instructional Support

Instructional Support Emotional Classroom Organization DOMAINS Positive climate Negative climate Sensitivity Regard for student perspective Concept development Quality of feedback Language modeling Behavior management Productivity Instructional learning formats DIMENSIONS Relationships, Affect, Respect, Communication Punitive, Sarcasm/ disrespect, Negativity Aware, Responsive, Address problem, Comfort Flexibility, Autonomy, Student expression Clear expectation, Proactive, Redirection Maximize time, Efficient routines and transitions Variety, Promote student interest, Clarity, Engaging Analysis/reasoning, Creativity, Integration Feedback loops, Encourage responses, Expand performance Conversation, Open-ended, Repeat/extend, Advanced language INDICATORS

Classroom ratings: CLASS PK-5 Positive climate Negative climate Teacher sensitivity Regard for student perspectives Effective behavior management Learning formats/engagement Productivity Concept development Evaluative feedback Language modeling Emotional Support Organization/ Management Instructional Support

What is the quality of the classroom setting? Positive emotional climate Productivity Quality of feedback 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 General distributions of classrooms on selected individual qualitative scales. Do not see significant differences in distributions across grade, so can compile them this way. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Profiles of classroom quality: First grade 7 6 5 4 Quality Emotional 3 Instructional 2 1 Positive emotional climate Low academic demand Very positive emotional climate High instructional quality Mediocre, Low academic demand Negative emotional climate, Low instructional quality 31% 23% 29% 17%

Associations with structural/selection factors Exceptional variability within and across grades, including across the same grade/curriculum. Stability across grades is low – 15% Little to no association of observed interactions with: Teacher experience or training Teacher salary Small associations with structure and selection (.10 - .20) Class size: larger classes more structured; smaller classes more social and higher instructional quality Family income/education related to more positive ratings Students needing access to stable high-quality instruction do not typically receive it – 10% rate for low achievers 1) Very wide variation - classrooms vary as much as kids do. This variation may undermine classroom effects. Called into question some assumptions about school. Also note all teachers were credentialed. 2) No connections to “regulables” - raises question about defining “teacher quality” in terms of degrees, etc.

Classroom interactions and children’s social and academic performance Designs that isolate effects for instructional and emotional inputs controlling for other influences – in growth models Family and demographic factors Child’s prior performance Structural features of schooling Primarily small main effects (+/- .10) Instructional and emotional quality predict more positive achievement and social outcomes Larger effects on more proximal outcomes (e.g., child engagement) More instruction in literacy and math also predict to those outcomes Stronger effects for different groups of children Low maternal education Adjustment problems in K Poor Summary of results from papers on effects. See recent Hamre & Pianta Child Development paper on gap-closing 1st grade classrooms (Hamre, B., & Pianta, R. (2005). Can instructional and emotional support in the first grade classroom make a difference for children at risk of school failure? Child Development, 76(5), 949-967).

Pre-k quality and growth in child outcomes Where should we focus attention in policy, program development, and teacher preparation? Predicting achievement growth during preK from: Structural features (teacher ed., curriculum, etc.) Observed interactions (ECERS, CLASS) No association of structure with outcome, singly or in combination (e.g., NIEER index) Instructional and Emotional Supports (CLASS) predict positive changes in literacy, language, and math skills – small effect sizes – persist into kindergarten

Gains in Gr. 1 achievement in instructionally supportive classrooms 107 106 105 Standardized tests of achievement adjusted 104 103 High educ. 102 101 Low educ. 100 99 98 Low Moderate High 1st Grade Instructional Support

Gains in Gr. 1 achievement in emotionally supportive classrooms 107 106 Kindergarten adjustment problems 105 104 Standardized tests of achievement adjusted 103 No problems 102 101 Multiple problems 100 99 98 Low Moderate High 1st Grade Emotional Support

Implications of our work P-5 Redefine “teacher quality” in terms of performance/interactions in classroom Strive toward moving instructional dimensions and implementation “up” the scale of quality interactions Develop training and support approaches that address teachers’ interactions with children Approach these goals systematically and scientifically with standardized, validated observations at core A science of teaching and teacher-training that relies on direct and validated observation

Measurement issues/directions Develop extension of CLASS for grades 6-12 Ecometrics – Partitioning variance related to rater, time, day, season, window, consider alternative units of analysis. Global features more stable, valid. Reliability improved through adding raters in the system. Implications for scalability and for research on intervention effects, etc. Informant-report version; empirical tests of content-knowledge hypotheses

Standardized observation: Support for high-quality interactions Professional development/ training Observational Assessment Social and academic outcomes for children Resource allocation CLASS Instructional Organization Social Improved teacher outcomes Evaluation Curriculum

myteachingpartner.net

Focus on interactions in classrooms Teacher-child interactions and relationships are the means by which the curricula are implemented MTP uses CLASS as the basis for defining high-quality implementation and as the target/focus of professional development Goals of MTP are to: Increase teachers’ observation skills in identifying interactive behaviors and cues related to CLASS Identify children’s differential responses to teacher behaviors Increase teachers’ skills in identifying alternative responses to children's’ cues – create opportunity myteachingpartner.net

MTP support for teachers Two forms of web-based support for quality implementation MTP Activities Teacher-child interactions and relationships: CLASS Student growth in language, literacy and social relationships myteachingpartner.net

Project design 240 Participating PreK teachers statewide - VPI 3 Conditions of participation / levels of support Consultancy plus website plus curriculum Website access plus curriculum Materials/curriculum only All conditions Receive iBook laptops Receive MTP activities Complete surveys and assess 4 randomly selected children Bullet 3: 3 Levels of involvement. ALL 3 get computer and some level of activities and access to the MTP website DIFFERENCES: Materials Group: basic access and not required to implement Consultancy and Website Access: access to video examples on website of implementation and videotape their implementation Consultancy only: Work with consultant over 2 years….(Grace will describe shortly) myteachingpartner.net

Quality teaching videos: PK-3 myteachingpartner.net

CLASS examples: PK-3 myteachingpartner.net

MTP consultation cycle Classroom video recording at an established time 1 Teacher and consultant meet and discuss teaching practices 4 Consultant reviews and edits video clips 2 Teacher reviews clips and reflects on practice 3 myteachingpartner.net

Prompts Intended to identify positive aspect of teacher’s instruction in relation to a class dimension “This clip is a nice demonstration of concept development. You ask the children why the girl in the book is happy. You receive one answer and then go on and get ideas from two other children. What other strategies do you use to promote concept development?” myteachingpartner.net

Prompts Intended to help a teacher identify CLASS dimensions and examples in her teaching interactions “Here you quickly and effectively redirect the children back to the story. As you watch this clip, tell me what you are doing to help the children remember the rules.” myteachingpartner.net

Feedback on how the teacher implements lessons Prompts Feedback on how the teacher implements lessons “Some of the other children are not engaged in this lesson. What kinds of learning formats might you have used to draw all of the children in?” myteachingpartner.net

MTP-S Prompts: Feedback for teachers myteachingpartner.net

Effects of MTP support on interactions Examine both effects of condition on outcome (web vs consultation), treatment on treated, and moderation with regard to classroom demands. Teachers receiving consultation show greater increases in quality of instructional interactions; early career teachers who view CLASS videos show gains in interactions with children; effects seem attributable to video review Consultation moderates poverty effect

Changes in sensitivity for teachers in the MTP consultation and web only study conditions

Changes in language stimulation for teachers in the MTP consultation and web conditions

Moderating effects of study condition on the association between classroom poverty and changes in teacher sensitivity

Moderating effects of study condition on the association between visiting video pages and changes in teacher sensitivity

Effects of MTP support on child outcomes Examine effects of condition and treatment on treated with Consultancy, Web, and Activities groups. When teachers participate in consultation, children show greater gains in tests of early literacy

Associations between Teachers’ Exposure to the MyTeachingPartner Consultancy, Language and Literacy Activities and Web-Site, and Children’s Development of Language and Literacy Skills during Pre-K Definitional Vocabulary Phonological Awareness Print Knowledge PALS Total Level-1 B SE Child Characteristics Pre-test 0.45*** 0.03 0.53*** 0.48*** 0.02 0.49*** Boy -0.06 0.17 -0.92** 0.27 -1.19** 0.39 -1.33* 0.64 Non-English -0.66 0.34 -0.26 0.52 0.46 0.70 0.51 1.18 Maternal Education (years) 0.11* 0.05 0.30*** 0.08 0.13 0.11 0.12 0.18 Poverty -0.24 0.24 -0.07 0.40 -0.21 0.47 -0.58 0.83 Second Year of Intervention 0.55** 0.62* 0.28 0.50 0.35 1.62** 0.59 *p≤.05. **p≤.01. ***p≤.001.

Associations between Teachers’ Exposure to the MyTeachingPartner Consultancy, Language and Literacy Activities and Web-Site, and Children’s Development of Language and Literacy Skills during Pre-K (continued) Definitional Vocabulary Phonological Awareness Print Knowledge PALS Total Level-2 B SE Classroom Characteristics Mean Pre-test Score 0.17** 0.06 0.07 0.08 0.12 -0.11 Proportion in Poverty 0.04 0.60 0.44 1.06 0.42 1.72 0.53 2.80 Proportion Non-English -0.35 0.63 -0.90 1.01 -3.00 1.67 -10.2*** 2.70 Mean Mother’s Education -0.05 0.16 0.30 0.28 -0.04 0.47 -0.27 0.79 Teacher Characteristics Advanced Degree 0.22 -0.44 0.36 -0.32 0.62 0.03 1.05 Major in ECE 0.33 0.21 0.59 0.35 2.69** 0.99 Years Teaching PK -0.00 0.01 0.02 Intervention Components GT 20 hours/0 hours 1.03** -0.12 0.54 0.88 0.95 2.45 1.50 GT 20 hours/LT 20 hours 0.76* 0.31 -0.22 0.57 1.40 0.90 2.23 1.54 Hours per week MTP-LL Activities 0.14 0.67** 0.24 0.38 1.41* 0.64 Low Web Use 0.32 -0.33 1.09 0.94 1.98 1.52 Medium Web Use 0.29 -0.54 0.48 0.41 0.82 1.53 1.34 *p≤.05. **p≤.01. ***p≤.001.

Moderating Effects of Teachers Years of Experience on the Association Between Exposure to the Consultancy and Children’s Development of Print Knowledge

Standardized observation of interactions Is feasible, reliable and valid. A scalable language and lens for classroom settings Three domains: Emotional, Organizational, Instructional appear valid across grades A lever for research on teacher professional development and preparation to increase setting quality and child outcomes Implications for accountability systems, teacher quality, research on teacher ed.