“Virtual Observations at Scale: Lessons Learned During a Pandemic Year from Louisiana’s Third-Party Observations”

This brief offers lessons learned in the pivot to virtual observations across the state of Louisiana in Early Childhood Education (ECE) school and child care center sites during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Picard Center observers certified on the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) conducted over 1500 virtual CLASS observations that included virtual administrators at each site. After each observation, a virtual observation quality survey was completed. Common issues identified included weak wireless networks, audio and video issues, and incompatible streaming devices. Training documents address these concerns for future observations.

While there were many challenges during the uncertain times of the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual observations continued to protect the health, safety, and development of children in publicly-funded child care settings. The lessons learned through this study support preparation and technical quality of virtual observations for the 2021-22 school year and beyond.  

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