---
title: "CLASS Included: Head Start Exemplars"
description: In the Head Start Exemplars, CLASS data is linked to powerful professional development.
image: https://info.teachstone.com/hubfs/children-smiling.jpg
---

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- The CLASS Framework
  
    - [What is CLASS](https://teachstone.com/class/)
    - [CLASS 2nd Edition](https://teachstone.com/class-2nd-edition/)
    - [For Leaders](https://teachstone.com/leaders/)
    - [For Observers](https://teachstone.com/for-observers/)
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    - [For Head Start](https://teachstone.com/headstart/)
    - [Research](https://teachstone.com/research/)
- Products and Trainings
  
    - [Getting Started with CLASS](https://teachstone.com/getting-started-with-class/)
      
          - [CLASS® 2nd Edition Infant-Toddler](https://teachstone.com/class-2nd-edition-infant-toddler/)
          - [CLASS® 2nd Edition Pre-K-3rd](https://teachstone.com/class-2nd-edition-pre-k-3rd/)
          - [CLASS Overview for Leaders](https://teachstone.com/a-class-overview-for-leaders/)
          - [CLASS 2nd Edition Intro to Interactions for Educators](https://teachstone.com/intro-to-interactions-for-educators/)
    - [CLASS Environment](https://teachstone.com/class-environment/)
      
          - [CLASS Environment Observer Training](https://teachstone.com/class-environment/#environment-observer-training)
          - [CLASS Environment Overview for Educators](https://teachstone.com/class-environment/#environment-educator-training)
    - Observer Training & Certification
      
          - [CLASS Train-the-Trainer Affiliate Program](https://teachstone.com/class-train-the-trainer/)
          - [CLASS Affiliate Trainer Recertification](https://store.teachstone.com/trainer-recertification-new/)
          - [CLASS 2nd Edition Measurement Trainer Program](https://teachstone.com/class-2nd-measurement-trainer/)
          - [CLASS Observer Recertification](https://store.teachstone.com/observer-recertification-new/?showHidden=true)
          - [CLASS Observation Certification Training](https://teachstone.com/class-observation-training/)
    - [Transition Supports](https://teachstone.com/class-observer-supports/)
      
          - [CLASS Group Coaching Transition Training](https://teachstone.com/class-group-coaching-transition-training/)
          - [CLASS 2nd Edition Observer Transition Training](https://teachstone.com/class-2nd-observer-transition-training/)
          - [CLASS 2nd Edition Trainer Transition Training](https://teachstone.com/class-2nd-edition-trainer-transition-training/)
          - [CLASS Trainer Add-Ons](https://teachstone.com/trainer-add-ons/)
    - [Program Services & Support](https://teachstone.com/program-services-support/)
      
          - [CLASS Coding Support](https://teachstone.com/coding-support/)
          - [CLASS Quality Improvement Subscription **New!**](https://teachstone.com/myteachstone/)
          - [CLASS Observation Services](https://teachstone.com/class-observation-services/)
          - [Custom Events by Teachstone](https://teachstone.com/custom-events/)
          - [Meaningful Interactions at Home](https://teachstone.com/meaningful-interactions-at-home/)
    - Coach Trainings & Certification
      
          - [CLASS Group Coaching](https://teachstone.com/class-group-coaching/)
          - [1-1 Video Coaching](https://teachstone.com/1-1-video-coaching/)
          - [Instructional Support for Coaches](https://teachstone.com/coach-feedback/)
          - [Interaction Essentials Trainer Program](https://teachstone.com/interaction-essentials-trainer-program/)
    - [Professional Development for Educators](https://teachstone.com/professional-development-for-educators/)
      
          - [Banking Time: Investing in Relationships](https://teachstone.com/banking-time/)
          - [CDA with CLASS](https://teachstone.com/cda-programs/)
          - [Instructional Support Essentials for Teachers](https://teachstone.com/instructional-support-essentials-for-teachers/)
          - [Interaction Essentials for Educators](https://teachstone.com/interaction-essentials-for-educators/)
    - [CLASS Supplies](https://teachstone.com/class-supplies/)
      
          - [CLASS Dictionary](https://store.teachstone.com/class-dictionary/)
          - [CLASS Interactions Dimension Guide](https://store.teachstone.com/class-dimensions-guide/)
          - [CLASS Manuals](https://store.teachstone.com/class-2nd-edition-pre-k-3-manual-options/)
          - [CLASS Observation Score Sheets](https://store.teachstone.com/score-sheets/)
          - [CLASS Strategy Cards](https://store.teachstone.com/class-strategy-cards/)
          - [CLASS Support Kits](https://teachstone.com/class-support-kits/)
- Resources
  
    - [Resource Library](https://teachstone.com/resources/)
    - [Blog](https://info.teachstone.com/blog)
      
          - [Blog (Spanish)](https://info.teachstone.com/blog-en-esp?hsLang=en-us)
          - [Blog (French)](https://casiope.org/categorie/class/)
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# CLASS Included: Head Start Exemplars

 March 21 2019 by [Amy Stephens Cubbage](https://info.teachstone.com/blog/author/amy-stephens-cubbage)

- [Leadership & Policy](https://info.teachstone.com/blog/topic/leadership-policy)

![](https://info.teachstone.com/hs-fs/hubfs/children-smiling.jpg?width=519&height=300&name=children-smiling.jpg)

On a hot summer day in July 2016, I had the good fortune of being the one *not* on vacation on our small policy and research team. Instead, I went to DC to serve as Teachstone’s representative for a convening of policymakers, researchers, and ECE practitioners. They were gathering to discuss if and how exemplary Head Start grantees might be identified for *[Leading by Exemplar](https://bellwethereducation.org/publication/leading-exemplar-case-studies-head-start-programs)*, an initiative funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and led by Bellwether Education Partners.

As we sought to identify the ways in which exemplary programs could be identified, the *relationships between the teachers and the children in Head Start classrooms* bubbled up repeatedly in our small group discussions of quality factors to consider.  

Strong, healthy relationships with children, effectuated through discrete, identifiable interactions between the teachers and children, are at the core of great teaching, and no one in that convening raised any question about that. One need not be a CLASS advocate to find it difficult to imagine an exemplary ECE program without an explicit focus on high-quality teacher-child interactions!

Following the convening, Bellwether reviewed Head Start “exemplars,” meaning those programs with significant learning gains for the children served. Five of these were selected for more in-depth study of their design and practice: Acelero, CAP Tulsa, Educare Miami-Dade, Fairfax County Public Schools, and Utah Community Action.

These Head Start grantees, like all grantees, are familiar with the CLASS as their classroom quality is monitored with it. However, as you will read in the briefs linked below, each of the exemplars integrates the CLASS in their professional development, going beyond the use of CLASS only as a monitoring tool, and **linking CLASS data to powerful professional development!**

I’m thrilled that Bellwether has published four reports reviewing the methodology, analysis, and program highlights of the *Leading by Exemplar* initiative:

- [Case Studies of Head Start Programs](https://bellwethereducation.org/head-start-case-studies)
- [Lessons from Head Start Programs](https://bellwethereducation.org/head-start-lessons)
- [Data Utilization in Head Start Programs](https://bellwethereducation.org/head-start-data)
- [Instructional Models in Head Start Programs](https://bellwethereducation.org/head-start-instruction)

A few takeaways from my initial reading:

- Integration and alignment: The report bolsters the necessity of this and fuels our desire to look for ways to better communicate the importance of and value of the CLASS as a tool for alignment, including in teacher prep and PD, across curricula, and age levels.
- Parallel process and consistency across an ECE organization: We must not forget we all need effective interactions, and organizations only succeed when they put their people first. When we are attending to adult-adult interactions, and empowering and supporting teachers and administrators, powerful things happen for children, too.
- Maintain a focus on continuous quality improvement through cycles of assessment and targeted professional development, usually in the form of coaching – I found the description of Utah Community Action’s program to be particularly detailed about the individualization of PD.

Perhaps the most important lesson is that while the core focus on teacher-child interactions as measured by the CLASS does not vary in these exemplary Head Start programs, the implementation may look different, and we must continue to support programs as they determine the best practices for their specific program and setting.

I’d love to know what you find in your reading of these comprehensive briefs!

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