Throughout my years of experience as a Senior CLASS® Specialist, I’ve heard a few common misconceptions from observers, educators, and school leaders about interactions with children with disabilities. I’ve even heard that it’s not possible to use CLASS in classrooms where most of the children have disabilities! That’s absolutely not true. In fact, for preschool children with disabilities, a 2019 study shows that higher levels of Instructional Support were associated with increased social competence. (Aguiar et al., 2019 ..read more

What does it look like to get started with CLASS®? Aven Ford of the Children's Coalition for Northeast Louisiana joins to discuss what it's like to implement CLASS observation. We explore effective methods for securing stakeholder buy-in and discuss the importance of performance profiles and personalized coaching in improving childcare quality, especially in rural communities.  ..read more

In early childhood education, observation tools play an important role in understanding the quality of the classroom environment. While some tools focus on the quantity and types of materials and displays, other tools may focus more on how students engage with their environment or how the environment supports interactions and learning.  Let's dig into one of the tools: the CLASS Environment™. Many environmental measures are used to define program quality in preschool and childcare settings across the United States. So, what makes CLASS Environment stand out? Let's dig into three key aspe ..read more

We recently came across a really interesting article that examined both the academic and emotional aspects of teaching mathematics, and we were excited when the lead author agreed to answer some of our questions about the study.  Read below for our conversation with Rebekah Berlin, Program Director for the Learning by Scientific Design Network at Deans for Impact.  ..read more

In early childhood education, observation tools play an important role in understanding the quality of the classroom environment. While some tools focus on the quantity of materials, other tools may focus more on the types or organization of those materials. Let's dig into two widely used tools: the CLASS Environment™ and the Environmental Rating Scales (ERS). Both tools measure program quality in preschool and childcare settings across the United States. So, what are the differences? Let's compare three key aspects: what the tools measure (and what they don't), how to use the data collected ..read more

In this blog post, I shared some of my personal struggles to master the CLASS® measure and promised to take you on a deeper dive into some of the trickier CLASS concepts I encountered in my CLASS journey. We’ll start with conversations—what we might consider the vehicle for all of the other Instructional Support dimensions ..read more

Recently, I attended a training with coaches and educators from across the country, all with one goal in mind: how can I increase the quality of Instructional Support in my center? As the group discussed the merits of encouraging children to use complex language, we landed a tried-and-true teaching strategy outlined by the CLASS® tool: asking children open-ended questions to stimulate their language use ..read more

Five Tips for Maximizing Your Time and Space with Infants and -Toddlers ..read more

As an infant classroom educator, you know that talking to babies is important. For instance, you tell the infants in your care what they are looking at (“You see the new block basket on the shelf”). You label objects (“You have the red ball”). And you describe events that take place in the classroom (“The tray just fell off the table! That scared you”). These are all examples of talking with babies. Why, then, can it be so challenging to do this consistently in the classroom ..read more

The American Consortium for Equity in Education has selected 47 education industry companies, products, and leaders as award winners in 25 categories ..read more