CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Jan. 10, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- 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 announced it has added four early childhood education experts to its senior leadership team.

Those working the childcare field are passionate and driven. Even with the best of intentions, change can't happen without investments. Learn about funding opportunities that childcare providers can take advantage of, and how other providers are strategically using the money. 

What’s the best way to teach empathy to an infant, toddler, or preschool aged child?

Joanna Parker joins the Teaching with CLASS® podcast to answer that question. Joanna has spent her entire career in early care and education. She’s worked with Head Start, Early Head Start, child care, early intervention, public PreK, and home visitation programs at the local, community, state, and national levels.

Joanna explains that defining empathy in early childhood is all about understanding social-emotional development. Children will not display empathy the way adults do because they are still developing social-emotional skills. But educators can instill foundational skills for children to build upon as they mature.

Though exacerbated by the pandemic, turnover in early childhood education is not a new phenomenon. In 2012, the Institute of Medicine & National Research Council reported early childhood settings turnover rates averaging between 25-30 percent. Some pre-pandemic studies indicate it could be even higher, at a startling 26-50% turnover rate. The pandemic has compounded the already present challenge and has made the headlines as our country grapples with the realization that a healthy child care system is critical to our economic recovery.

Social emotional learning (SEL) is a critical component of school readiness and later academic and social success. Did you know that high-quality interactions play an essential role in supporting children’s SEL learning? Our new brief breaks down the research behind the connections between teacher-child interactions and important social emotional skills.

The colliding of pandemic health and safety policies and historic underinvestment in early learning has culminated in worrying trends in the education workforce. In fact, the sector has seen a decline of more than 160,000 jobs according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In today’s episode, you’ll hear from a panel that includes Shanda Parkinson and Amanda Horne of the Davis School District Head Start program in Utah and Lauren Bell, and Associate at Ready Nation. Together, our guests discuss the latest trends in the early childhood education workforce with data from their new report, The Workforce Behind the Workforce in North Carolina. And, hear the strategies that one district is using to recruit, train, and retain its educators.

It’s almost 2022, and with the new year comes a new chance to re-focus on our role as educators and ECE leaders. Knowing the challenges in our field, it’s our responsibility to do better, and “back to normal” isn’t good enough. Let’s join together for discussions on how we can better support educators and children.

Teachstone is excited to announce that registration is now open for the 2022 InterAct Now: CLASS® Summit. This year’s virtual event takes place over three half-days—from March 15-17, 2022. Each day, sessions will take place from 12-4 p.m. EST on our engaging online platform.

We invite you and your colleagues to join us as we come together to confront inequity, explore the potential of our impact, and support the amazing work that ECE educators do every day.

Burnout among early childhood educators is at a whole new level within the last couple of years. Administrators, teachers, observers, and staff feel different levels of burnout, and there isn’t a magic cure or quick fix. On this episode of Teaching with CLASS®, our guest Colleen Schmit returns to the podcast to help educators recognize and work through burnout.

We all want what’s best for our children. There are hundreds of aspects to measure: nutrition, exercise, curriculum, community involvement...the list could go on.

There’s one aspect that you may not know is measurable—that’s the interactions between teachers and students. This is where the CLASS tool comes in.

So, you’re dual-certified on the Infant and Toddler CLASS® tools. Congrats! Not only can you observe in Infant classrooms (birth to 18 months) and Toddler classrooms (15 to 36 months), but you can also observe in classrooms that contain a mix of the two age levels. If you are observing in a classroom with three age levels, as there often are in Family Day Homes, check out this guidance.

Observing in mixed age classrooms may seem daunting, but it’s completely doable. If you’re preparing to do Infant/Toddler CLASS observations, read on to get solutions to three of the most common challenges when observing in a mixed-age setting.