We are excited to have Sara Beach guest blog for us today. As a former Teachstone Staff Trainer, she frequently presented on topics such as Helping Teachers with the Instructional Supports, through active, adult-learning approaches. She has been an Infant-toddler teacher, center director, education specialist, coach-mentor, and early childhood college instructor, and her highest honor has been supporting teachers.
The two-day CLASS Observation training is a very intensive process that requires integrating and synthesizing massive amounts of new information.
Learning the CLASS measure in just two days can be overwhelming and exhausting—I will be the first to admit that! I still remember “not quite getting” that Quality of Feedback dimension, scratching my head over the difference between integration and connections to the real world and, worse, not passing my first reliability test. Oh, the horror! This was my job on the line!
But here’s the good news: with the patient coaching by my mentor, Dr. Sarah Hadden, I did ultimately pass the test, and over the past few years I have learned some important lessons:
You can certainly become a reliable coder after a two-day Observation Training (which is our goal). However, to truly be able to utilize the CLASS measure fully, in all its depth, is an ongoing process requiring much deeper discussions.
For my next several blog posts, I’ll explore some difficult CLASS concepts at a much deeper level, so that we can figure out the best ways of approaching teachers with all of the amazingness that is the CLASS measure. Stay tuned for more in the coming weeks, and in the meantime use the comments to let me know what CLASS concepts you’ve struggled with. We can learn from one another!
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IIn our recent webinar, Making the Move to CLASS® 2nd Edition, we shared how programs and individuals can begin to experience and use the enhanced Pre-K–3rd CLASS tool. Certified CLASS observers play a critical role in helping every child reach their full potential.
Without reliable and valid data on the quality of educator-child interactions, programs and educators would not have the actionable insights they need to make continuous quality improvements in the areas that matter the most for children.
Last month we hosted a webinar, A Closer Look at CLASS 2nd Edition. And, we were blown away from the responses and excitement to the enhancements. As with any big news, there were also questions. We’re tackling your top asked questions below, and look forward to continuing sharing more updates and insights around CLASS 2nd Edition in the coming weeks.
Last week marked Teachstone's annual user conference, InterAct NOW: CLASS® Summit, where hundreds of education leaders, coaches, and teachers from around the country came together to network and learn from each other. The event kicked off on Tuesday, March 15 with a special announcement from Teachstone CEO, Dr. Bridget Hamre.
Teachstone, developer of the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS®) included in 23 states' Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS) and used by Head Start programs nationwide, today released a preview of CLASS 2nd Edition Measurement Suite. Designed specifically for Pre-K–3rd grade learning environments, CLASS helps educators focus, measure and improve classroom interactions—key factors in supporting children’s academic and lifelong success.