I’ve just returned from an inspiring week at the Annual National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Conference where I presented with my friend and colleague Sara Diamond on Providing Classroom-Level CLASS® Observation Feedback to educators. We had a lot of fun talking with early childhood educators and hearing about the challenges and successes you face in the field!

One attendee at our presentation raised her hand to ask whether we recommend sharing educators’ CLASS® scores with them when providing feedback on their CLASS observation. This is a great question and one that deserves a nuanced answer. Whether you decide to share scores, ranges (low, mid, high), or neither requires considering factors like:

  • Teachers’ prior knowledge of the CLASS measure
  • Whether the observation was evaluative or solely for feedback purposes
  • The personality characteristics of the teacher (Is she confident or anxious?)
  • The culture of your staff (Are they competitive or supportive?)
  • Whether you have state, national, or prior observation comparison values

All of these factors influence this important decision; here, we will focus on how teachers’ prior knowledge of the CLASS measure may influence whether you share scores or ranges.

Educators with a high level of CLASS knowledge may benefit from knowing their scores, while this level of detail may not benefit those with little CLASS knowledge. The educators must have enough context for the score to be meaningful. At Teachstone, we often talk about developing a common lens and language for talking about effective interactions as we prepare an organization for CLASS-based initiatives. When we explained this to the crowd at NAEYC, one woman raised her hand to suggest, “Wouldn’t MMCI [CLASS Group Coaching] be the way to do this?” There are a number of ways to develop a common lens and language while providing context for CLASS-based feedback, and CLASS Group Coaching (CGC) is certainly one of them.

CGC utilizes video observations of highly effective and less effective interactions to promote identifying and describing interactions. This process has been shown to support teachers in improving their own interactions with children. Through small group and partner work, MMCI participants engage in discussion prompts focused on application and reflection, which builds collaboration and teamwork. These activities promote the CLASS lens and language and complement CLASS-based feedback.