Products and Trainings

We know that one of the most important factors in children and adolescents' success in school is the quality of their teachers—and specifically the effectiveness of the daily interactions that support students' social and academic learning. Today more than ever, teachers need time to learn and reflect on their own professional practice. 

But too often professional learning experiences are ‘sit and get’ presentations and disconnected from teachers' daily practice. And many research based professional learning programs have failed to demonstrate impact at large scale because they are often highly resource intensive and do not fit well into schools professional learning plans.

Teachstone recently hosted the Do Learning Environments Make a Big Difference? webinar with Sara Schodt, Impact Program Manager at Teachstone, and Ross Harold, Senior Director of the Early Childhood Assessment and Early Childhood Health Office at the New York City Department of Education. 

Our hosts shared how Teachstone’s CLASS Environment™ can be used as a means of supporting meaningful teacher-child interactions, which are strong predictors of future learning and development.

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.

The first day a young child spends away from home, whether it's at a preschool, a home daycare, or other child care setting, can be as exciting as challenging. The two environments not only look different, but feel different too. 

November is National Family Engagement Month. As educators, we’re often focused on supporting children’s academic, social, and emotional growth in the classroom. But, it’s important to remember that families are a child’s first teacher. This month, we’re celebrating how to take learning home and support families’ opportunities to impact their child’s development and learning through the power of interactions.

As part of your family engagement initiatives this month (and beyond!), consider how you can help families understand and leverage their interactions at home. To help, check out these tips and tricks below that you can share with the families in your early childhood program!

When I was a teacher, I can remember taking care to intentionally plan differentiated, or individualized, instruction. And, when I was teaching pre-K I added the same level of intentionality to which materials were available in interest areas, and how I approached transitions throughout the day.

While any level of intentionally, specifically in relation to planning, is important -- I missed a critical opportunity in being more intentional in my interactions with the children in my class.