1. Governor’s Office of Early Childhood
CLASS is in session:
Teacher-Child Interactions in Early Childhood Settings

2. Introduction Presenter: Joe Roberts, Director
Head Start Collaboration Office
Background in data and analytics
Experience in multiple industries
Process improvement (Six Sigma)
Worked at a Head Start grantee
Facilitates collaboration between all Early Childhood settings (formal and home)
Contact Information:
Call: (502)

3. Goals and Agenda Agenda Introduction to CLASS What is CLASS
Who can use CLASS
Scoring with CLASS
Domains, Dimensions & Behavioral Markers
Video examples
Testimonials
Resources
Goal
Participants will leave with a broad knowledge of the CLASS tool including the domains and dimensions of CLASS and how scoring works

4. What is CLASS?
Classroom
Assessment and
Scoring
System

5. What is CLASS? Designed by TeachStone
Based on research from University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education
Data supports teachers’ unique professional development needs
focuses on effective teaching
helps teachers recognize and understand the power of their interactions with students
works across age levels and subjects
Assesses classroom quality
Tool designed for many age groups

6. Who can use CLASS?
The CLASS™ tool is used by teachers, administrators, researchers, and data collectors for a variety of purposes, including
Teacher preparation
Teacher performance assessment
Professional development
Program monitoring
Research and evaluation

7. Who can use CLASS? Office of Head Start City of Chicago
State of Georgia
Others. . .
In Kentucky. . .
32 Head Start Grantees
Multi-county, single county
~14,000 at risk children (3s and 4s)
~1,100 classrooms
~ 3,500 personnel

8. Scoring with CLASS
Scoring Matrix 7
HIGH 6 5 4
MID-RANGE 3 2
LOW 1

9. Classroom Organization Instructional Support
Domains of CLASS
CLASSROOM QUALITY
Emotional Support
Classroom Organization
Instructional Support

10. Classroom Organization Instructional Support
Domains of CLASS
CLASSROOM QUALITY
Emotional Support
Positive Climate
Negative Climate
Teacher Sensitivity
Regard for Student Perspective
Classroom Organization
Instructional Support

11. Emotional Support
Positive Climate – The emotional connection, respect and enjoyment demonstrated between teachers and students and among students
Negative Climate – The level of expressed negativity such as anger, hostility, or aggression exhibited by teachers and/or students in the classroom
Teacher Sensitivity – Teachers’ awareness of and response to students’ academic and emotional concerns
Regard for Student Perspective – The degree to which teachers’ interactions with students and classroom activities place an emphasis on the students’ interests, motivations and points of view

12. Emotional Support
Conversations during learning -
Comforting an upset child -
Activities with children as leaders-

13. Emotional Support Behavioral Markers Negative Climate(NC)
Negative Affect
Punitive Control
Sarcasm/Disrespect
Severe Negativity
Positive Climate (PC)
Relationships
Positive Affect
Positive Communication
Respect
Teacher Sensitivity (TC)
Awareness
Responsiveness
Addresses Problems
Student Comfort
Regard for Student Perspective(RSP)
Flexibility and Student Focus
Support for Autonomy and Leadership
Student Expression
Restriction of Movement

14. Classroom Organization Instructional Support
Domains of CLASS
CLASSROOM QUALITY
Emotional Support
Classroom Organization
Behavior Management
Productivity
Instructional Learning Formats
Instructional Support

15. Classroom Organization
Behavior Management – How effectively teachers monitor, prevent and redirect behavior
Productivity – How well the classroom runs with respect to routines and the degree to which teachers organize activities and directions so that the maximum time can be spent on learning activities
Instructional Learning Formats – How teachers facilitate activities and provide interesting materials so that students are engaged and learning opportunities are maximized

16. Classroom Organization
Video Links:
Instructions during transitions -
Making the most at lunch -
Animated Story Time -
Puppets at Story Time -

17. Classroom Organization
Behavioral Markers
Behavior Management (BM)
Clear expectations
Proactive
Redirection of Misbehavior
Student Behavior
Instructional Learning Formats (ILS)
Effective Facilitation
Variety of Modalities and Material
Student Interest
Clarity of Learning Objectives
Productivity
Maximizing Learning Time
Routines
Transitions
Preparation

18. Classroom Organization Instructional Support
Domains of CLASS
CLASSROOM QUALITY
Emotional Support
Classroom Organization
Instructional Support
Concept Development
Quality of Feedback
Language Modeling

19. Instructional Support
Concept Development – How teachers use instructional discussion and activities to promote students’ higher-order thinking skills in contrast to a focus on rote instruction
Quality of Feedback – How teachers extend students’ learning through their responses to students’ ideas, comments and work
Language Modeling – The extent to which teachers facilitate and encourage students’ language

20. Instructional Support
Experimenting with eggs –
Quality Feedback Loops -
Open ended questions during story time -

21. Classroom Organization
Behavioral Markers
Concept Development (CD)
Analysis and Reasoning
Creating
Integration
Connections to the Real World
Quality of Feedback (QF)
Scaffolding
Feedback Loops
Prompting Thought Process
Providing Information
Encouragement and affirmation
Language Modeling
Frequent Conversations
Open-Ended Questions
Repetition and Extension
Self- and Parallel-Talk
Advanced Language

22. CLASS SCORING Frequency of Scoring
Four to six twenty minute observations
Ten minutes of scoring after each observation periods
Observers score all ten dimensions each time
Cumulative score is the average of all observations
Other Considerations
Observations can be made during any organized activities (including lunch and transitions)
Not to be used for outdoor play
Observations must be conducted in one day
Includes all adults in the setting
Should reflect the average classroom experience

23. Classroom Organization Instructional Support
CLASS SCORING
National Averages
Emotional Support
Classroom Organization
Instructional Support

24. CLASS SCORING Inter-rater Reliability Introductory training (2 Days)
Online Test (must maintain 80% reliability)
Scores are “reliable” if they fall within one (plus or minus) of a master coder
Reliability must be renewed annually (re-test)
Maintaining Inter-rater Reliability
Organizations are encouraged to engage in inter-rater reliability exercises throughout the year
Video tape environments
Score jointly to check results
Develop strategies to integrate lessons learned
Integrate CLASS scores into PD system

25. Resources Resources and Links
TeachStone website
Teachstone Implementation Guide (
Early Childhood Knowledge and Learning Center
Head Start Training and Technical Assistance (
Your local Head Start (

26. Thank You