<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=1441829102512164&amp;ev=PageView&amp;noscript=1">
Menu
Close Search

FCC Challenge: Establishing Coding Consistency in Inconsistent Settings

28 Feb 2014 by Mary-Margaret Gardiner
FAQs | Observation Training | CLASS in Practice

In last month's blog post in our family child care (FCC) series, we looked at the first challenge of coding across multiple age levels in family child care homes. This month, we'll explore the second challenge observers often face in FCC settings: what to do when you arrive at a family child care home and there are only a couple of children there.

FCC Challenge #2: Establishing Coding Consistency in Inconsistent Settings

Family homes often operate for extended hours, providing early-morning, late-evening, and even overnight care, and the number of children present at any one time can vary from setting to setting, day to day, hour to hour. Parents sometimes need to drop off their school-aged child before the bus comes and they may be present for part of the time you are there. Other children are picked up and dropped off based on their parent’s work schedule, this flexibility being one of the benefits of in-home care for families with non-traditional work schedules. So the question becomes: “How should I proceed with such variability?”

Here are some tips:

  • If you can, wait until at least four children are present.
  • In homes when less than four children are enrolled, find out from the provider what time the most children will be present and plan your visit with this information in mind. This will also help you determine which tool you need to use, or if you need multiple manuals and scoring booklets.

The purpose for doing CLASS™ observations can vary. It may be for research, accountability efforts, program planning and evaluation, or professional development and supervision. Giving careful consideration to how the data will be used is also an important part of conducting these observations.

Here are some tips:

  • Review the “Uses of the CLASS” section in the Introduction of your CLASS Manual.
  • Once you have determined how you would like to use the CLASS data, decide what your coding protocol will be and use this consistently across settings.

What kind of protocol works best for your organization?


Research Summary: Using the CLASS Measure in Family Child Care Homes
Share this Post
Mary-Margaret Gardiner

Mary-Margaret Gardiner

View More Articles

Subscribe to our Blog

Receive timely updates delivered straight to your inbox.

Related Posts

The Complete Guide to Incorporating Regard for Student Perspectives at Circle Time

By Jacquelynn Jauregui

Originally published December 22, 2016

Regard for Student Perspectives as defined by CLASS® is“the degree to which the teacher’s interactions with students and classroom activities place an emphasis on students’ interests, motivations, and points of view and encourage student responsibility and autonomy.” This often looks like following children's lead so that you can anticipate their needs during an activity. 

Understanding how to effectively employ CLASS's Regard for Student Perspectives while maintaining a constructive learning environment can be challenging. In the following paragraphs the fictional preschool professional, Mrs. Jones, will illustrate the indicators of Regard for Student Perspectives at circle time. I’ll then discuss her exemplary examples:

Read More

What to Do with Your First $50K

By Meghan Cornwell

It’s not in question that educational efforts need more funding; the question is what to do with that funding when it’s received. In today’s episode, Marnetta talks to one returning guest, Sarintha Stricklin, director of the Jefferson Early Childhood Network  in Louisiana, and Jen Roberts, CEO of Agenda for Children. They’re going to talk about using funding, both how they’ve done it previously and what their vision is for the future. Listen to the episode to hear what Sarintha and Jen have to say about wh at leaders should do when they’re receiving education - specific funds, the successful investments they’ve seen and been part of, and their ideas for issues like retention and compensating educators.

Read More

3 Ways to Boost Students’ Engagement Using Instructional Learning Formats

By Marla Read Capper

The CLASS® tool’s Instructional Learning Format (ILF) dimension refers to the ways educators enhance engagement. We all know students who are engaged in school regardless of who their teacher is just simply because that is who they are. But, this dimension examines the ways in which educators expand involvement by using a variety of modalities, strategies, and providing hands-on opportunities. This dimension is not about the actual learning that may or may not take place, but rather the “hooks” and methods an educator uses to “set the stage” for learning.

Read More

Using Self- and Parallel Talk to Enhance Communication Skills

By Mamie Morrow

Educators learning about CLASS® are asked to narrate their actions and sportscast their children’s experiences in order to support and encourage healthy language development. Hearing this, many may wonder, “Will people think I’m weird if I start talking to myself in the classroom?”

The answer is no. Self- and parallel talk are beneficial strategies for educators to engage in because they strengthen language rich environments and enhance vocabulary development, all while supporting effective relationship building between teachers and children.

Read More