So, you’re a Certified CLASS Observer. Now, what?
You recertify once a year to make sure you are staying true to the tool—that’s essential. But what happens between annual recertifications, during the course of each year? The data you collect is a crucial component of a comprehensive professional development plan and research. So, how can you really be sure you are conducting fair and accurate observations at all times? We have the answer for that: CLASS Calibration!
CLASS Calibration is a program designed to support Certified CLASS Observers as they conduct observations in the field, whether you code from videos or conduct live classroom observations. Participants will have access to view and code a single master coded video per session via their Teachstone dashboard. Once you submit your codes for the video, you'll receive immediate, automated feedback about their scoring. You can review the coding video as many times as you would like within their access window.
After watching the coding video, you'll receive access to a pre-recorded webinar, which presents the master codes for the video as well as the key interactions that support these codes.
CLASS Calibration is suited for both brand new observers as well as more experienced observers. Practice makes perfect; it provides new observers with an opportunity to practice coding a variety of classrooms and refine their observation and coding skills. It also gives more experienced observers an opportunity to refocus their CLASS lens and helps counteract coding biases developed in the field known as coder drift. After all, even observers who code frequently can fall off course from time to time.
Essentially, CLASS Calibration gives us the opportunity to gauge our reliability and realign ourselves with the CLASS tool as needed. It helps keep us honest, and when it comes to classroom evaluations, that’s important.
What other steps are you taking to ensure your classroom observations are accurate? We'd love to hear about it in the comments below!
Editor's Note: This post was originally published in April 2014, but has since been updated to keep content accurate and interesting.
It’s now been one year since the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered school facilities and forced educators across the globe to shift how they engage learners. At Teachstone, we too made shifts to ensure we met the moment, while remaining steadfast in our commitment to improving the interactions that matter most to children’s development and success.
In today’s world, there isn’t much technology can’t do. It can help you stay connected to family and friends, keep you on track to achieving your fitness goals, and can even adjust your thermostat while you’re away from home.
And now, with myTeachstone, it can promote positive child-outcomes through facilitating on-going, meaningful, and continuous improvement efforts.
Practice and feedback is the key to CLASS® success. Even the most experienced certified CLASS Observers need practice and feedback to make sure their classroom observations remain fair and accurate. The best way to provide this is to use our Calibration product. Calibration protects your investment in reliable data collection.
Online Calibrations are available for Certified CLASS observers at all 6 CLASS levels. When you purchase an individual calibration, you’ll receive a video to watch and code on your myTeachstone dashboard. After submitting your codes, you’ll get an automated score report and a prerecorded webinar discussing the master codes.
When I first learned about CLASS Group Coaching—a training for early childhood professionals about building relationships with children—I was more than a little interested. This, I thought. This is what teaching is all about. It seems to be an obvious concept, but once we dig deeper, we are able to identify the whys and hows of our interactions. CLASS Group Coaching allows us to identify the benefits of our classroom relationships with our students and helps us be intentional in our daily practices. It allows us to utilize each moment we have with our students to deepen our understanding of their perspectives and genuinely connect with them as people. It helps us see the world from their view and guide their learning in a way that is relevant to them.