Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS™) Pre-K
The Classroom Assessment Scoring System Pre-K (CLASS™ PreK; Pianta, La Paro, & Hamre, 2005) is a system for observing and assessing the quality of interactions between teachers and students in preschool classrooms. The CLASS™ examines social-emotional and instructional interactions that contribute to student’s social competence and academic achievement.
The CLASS™ is a valid and reliable observation tool designed to focus on teacher-child interactions, which have been linked to student outcomes. By focusing on interactions, the CLASS™ provides evidence which helps educators understand and improve their teaching practices and more effectively create a classroom environment conducive to student learning. Developed by researchers at the University of Virginia and validated in thousands of diverse classrooms, the CLASS™ is used in numerous teacher professional development, program monitoring, and research and evaluation initiatives across the country.
CEED maintains close ties with the developers of the CLASS™ instrument, and this work has evolved into a key focal area of CEED’s Assessment Training Center. CEED provides strong leadership supporting CLASS™-related needs for projects across Minnesota, offering both training and professional development on both the Pre-K and K-3 versions of the tool.
The CLASS™ measure includes 10 subscales organized into three domains:
- Emotional Support,
- Classroom Organization, and
- Instructional Support.
Each subscale is scored on a 7-point scale, with a score of 1 and 2 considered to be in the low-range; 3, 4, and 5 are mid-range; and 6 and 7 are high range. A typical cycle for the CLASS™ involves 20 minutes of observing followed by 10 minutes of scoring.
