All Things CLASS

This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous

I did an observation and am really struggling with scoring. Since CLASS is a balance of both teachers interactions...The lead on her own would score high but the assistant barely said two words. For example when planning she put the materials in front of each child and just said, "Here." The children knew what to do--so at some point this was adequately explained. Any help would be appreiated!

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In CLASS, we're always scoring the experience of the children, not individual teachers. So even if the lead teacher demonstrates strong interactions, the assistant's level of engagement still matters because it shapes what children are consistently experiencing.

In your example, the assistant placing materials and simply saying "Here" reflects minimal facilitation and missed opportunities for language and engagement. Even if children knew what to do, we can only score what we observe in the cycle, not what may have been taught earlier.

A helpful lens is to ask: If a child were primarily interacting with the assistant during this time, what would their experience be? If that experience includes limited language, feedback, or support, that should be reflected in your scores.

So ultimately, scores should reflect the combined, typical experience across both adults, which may bring scores down from what the lead teacher alone might demonstrate.

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Liz Savage
Sr Marketing Manager, Community and Events
Teachstone
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