Teacher preparation programs are increasingly expected to use data on preservice teacher (PST) skills to drive program improvement and provide targeted supports. Observational ratings are especially vital, but also prone to measurement issues. Scores may be influenced by factors unrelated to PSTs' instructional skills, including rater standards.…

Accurate, reliable, and scalable measurement of classroom quality represent a critical tool for ensuring that young children benefit from early learning programs. The Early Childhood Classroom Observation (ECCO) study was designed to better understand how video recordings can support high-quality measurement of pre-kindergarten (pre-K) classrooms,…

Systematized, observational approaches to measuring teaching quality are an important tool in research and practice. Termed observation systems, these approaches include a rubric that operationalizes a set of teaching quality constructs and structures to support rater training and monitoring. Scores from observation systems, through their…

Research Findings: This study employed multiple approaches to examine the stability of teacher--child interaction quality in Chinese preschools. Teacher-child interaction quality was measured using the "Classroom Assessment Scoring System" (CLASS) on five observational cycles within a school day. Several different metrics of stability…

Research Findings: Given the variable nature of early childhood settings, practitioners and researchers need better guidance on what conditions influence observations conducted within early childhood settings (National Research Council, 2008). Using 230 observations from 23 three- and four-year-old children, we conducted a Generalizability study…

Research Findings: In this study, we tested whether it is possible to reliably evaluate the quality of interactions between early childhood educators and children using a thin-slice coding approach. Ninety-seven early childhood educators were videotaped for two five-minute intervals: one mealtime observation and one standardized activity. Videos…

The objective of this paper is to present the conception and validation of the Quality of Educators' Observation and Planning Practices Scale (QEOPPS). The instrument assesses the quality of early childhood educators' observation practices (observing children, collecting information, using the collected information, paying attention to each child)…

Background & Context: Early childhood contexts characterized by high-quality adult-child interactions have important consequences for children's development (Hamre, 2014; Peisner-Feinberg et al., 2001). The use of classroom observation tools to measure the quality of such interactions in early education and care (EEC) settings has become…

Background & Context: Accurate, reliable, and scalable measurement of classroom quality is critical to ensure that children benefit from early childhood programs. Early childhood classroom quality is most commonly measured using classroom observation tools serving multiple purposes including (1) teacher support (e.g., coaching, professional…

Research Findings: The purpose of this study was to refine and validate the Assessing Classroom Sociocultural Equity Scale (ACSES), an observation tool for measuring equitable sociocultural interactions in early childhood classrooms (pre-K to Grade 3) with racially minoritized learners (RMLs). Preliminary psychometric information from 142…

Observations seem particularly susceptible to rater error due to the level of subjectivity involved in assessment. Thus, the present paper aims to investigate: (1) inter-rater agreement (IRA) using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System -- Secondary version (CLASS-S) and (2) the CLASS-S factor structure in a Norwegian context. Inter-rater…

In response to growing interest in mindfulness as a support for educators, the current study sought to create and test a new multidimensional and multi-informant measure of teacher mindfulness in the classroom. To counter some of the limitations of context-general self-reports, we designed two theoretically based classroom-specific measures that…

In 2017, the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) in the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) funded Mathematica to conduct the Infant and Toddler Teacher and Caregiver Competencies (ITTCC) project. The project aims to examine existing efforts across states, institutions of higher education, professional organizations, and…

Measures of teaching are used internationally to understand and improve quality in early education with little consideration for ecological validity. In this study, we analyze videos gathered in 58 K-1 classrooms in Central Mexico to evaluate the validity and reliability of scores from an observational tool developed in the U.S. and used…

Leaders, policymakers, and systems developers seek to improve early childhood programs through data driven decision-making. Data can be useful for informing continuous quality improvement efforts at the classroom and program level and for creating support for workforce development at the system level. Early childhood program leaders use…