CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Nov. 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Teachstone, developer of the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS®) included in 23 states' Quality Rating and Improvement Systems and used by Head Start programs nationwide, today announced it is partnering with the U.S. Army Child and Youth Services (CYS) to ensure military families have access to high-quality early childhood care and education—on and off the installation.
Starting this fall, the U.S. Army will implement Teachstone's nationally recognized CLASS® through a design partnership to help ensure every child in their program has access to effective interactions. Research proves children in early childhood classrooms with high CLASS scores have better academic and social outcomes.
Teachstone will provide coaching and professional development to educators and administrators to ensure classroom practices align with CLASS and to build a pipeline of trained experts. In the initial phase, 390 teachers in 195 classrooms, as well as 62 Program Managers and 31 Training Specialists will receive resources and support.
Teachstone will also directly support military families to make the most of everyday moments at home with their children through its "CLASS at Home" program.
"The U.S. Army has long been the gold standard for high-quality early childhood care and education," said Teachstone Co-Founder and CEO Bridget Hamre. "We are thrilled to partner with military families and educators to maintain that reputation. Over the coming years, we will work together to raise the quality of adult-child interactions and reduce challenging behaviors. It is an incredible honor to be able to give back to the military families who give us so much each and every day."
For the U.S. military, high-quality child care is not just a family issue; it's a matter of national security, said Col. Joshua Segraves, Garrison Commander at Fort Belvoir, in a recent interview with PBS News Hour. The segment focused on how the high-quality, government-supported child care that supports military families could be scaled for civilians.
"When you think about readiness, child care provides a key facet of that readiness and how we take care of our soldiers, but also maintain our readiness to deploy worldwide at any given moment," Segraves said. "Without that, we would be significantly degraded in our ability to accomplish those missions."
About Teachstone
Teachstone® was founded in 2008 to deliver the Classroom Assessment Scoring System® nationwide and around the globe. Developed through years of research, the CLASS® observation tool measures interactions between teachers and children, which have been shown to drive learning and lifelong achievement. CLASS, adopted as part of the federal Head Start monitoring protocol in 2010, is used to assess the effectiveness of teacher-student interactions. Teachstone's CLASS tool is making a difference in classrooms in 50 countries worldwide. For information visit www.teachstone.com.