Classroom Assessment & Scoring System (CLASS)
The Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) has contracted with the Picard Center to implement an early childhood quality monitoring program for those sites participating in the Act 3 Community Network Pilot Program in Louisiana. Act 3 was signed into law in 2012 as a plan to establish a statewide Birth to 5 network with uniform standards of readiness and coordination of services with other state agencies.
- 47 qualified observers maintain 90%+ inter-rater reliability
- Observe teacher-child interactions in Pre-K and toddler classrooms
- Approximately 1,700 sites for the 2016-2017 school year
- 3,750 observations during the 2016-2017 school year
- 10% shadow observations (375)
*Since February 2014 - May 2017, the Picard Center will have conducted 8,750 Pre-K and toddler CLASS observations
The Picard Center has been involved in the administration of the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS), which is used to evaluate the effectiveness of teacher-child interactions in toddler and preschool classrooms across the state of Louisiana. The Picard Center has Affiliate CLASS trainers, who can provide both observation and introduction to CLASS trainings and conduct CLASS assessments. Additionally, Picard staff has the expertise to ensure that monitoring is done with fidelity and reliability to the instrument.
CLASS is a monitoring program of quality in early childhood settings around the state that will inform improvement opportunities.