All Things CLASS

Good morning,

I have a question which I probably know the answer to. Within my agency, we have classrooms where there are multiple children with disabilities and some are very aggressive. I know that while we are observing we are focusing on teachers' interactions with the children. How do I explain it to my teachers? I think they are concerned about the child or children acting out while they are being observed and if it could affects their scoring. Like maybe they are trying to wipe the child's nose and the child falls out because they don't want it wiped or they are trying to tie the child's shoes and they are kicking and rolling over. These are 3–4-year-olds. I would love some feedback about this situation. 

Hi Caroline, 

Thanks for this question. And for all of the work you and your agency do with children with disabilities. As a mom of two neurodivergent children, I know that there can be daily challenges. And I know that all of this can be stressful for educators, especially when being observed. 

In the 2nd Edition Pre-K-3rd tool, we have some clarification around this. Here are a few things to emphasize: 

Behavior Management scoring note: Educators may implement specific redirection techniques to support children with significant behavioral needs who are harming themselves or others. If educators implement these techniques with irritation or anger, these interactions should also be considered evidence of Negative Climate.

BM, Proactive high description: Educators sometimes work to proactively support positive behavior by modeling their own regulation such as by naming their own frustration and modeling or talking through how they will handle it.

BM, Child behavior mid description: Alternatively, a few children may exhibit more sustained challenging behaviors that cause some disruption to classroom activities, but activities for most children are able to continue without significant impact.

Educator Sensitivity, Responsiveness high description: These educators also acknowledge and validate children's feelings, with particular attention paid to the emotions children tend to express when their needs are not met, including anger, frustration, and sadness.

All of this is to note that, in general, the focus here is really about how the educator reacts when these happen. We know that children, especially children with special needs or who have experienced trauma, sometimes have challenging behaviors. Here are some examples of how the reactions might play out: 

- More effective: The educator needs to wipe a child's nose. They tell the child they are going to wipe their nose and may even mention how they know the child doesn't like that feeling, but they have to do it to keep everyone healthy. They wipe the child's nose, the child screams and falls on the floor and kicks their legs. The educator responds with something like, "You really didn't want your nose wiped. You're angry about it" and stays calm while helping the child calm down or redirecting them. They may even say, "I can As long as this interaction doesn't start to disrupt the other children, the child behavior indicator can still be considered high or mid depending on how many children and how long it goes on. This example would also stay low for NC and be evidence for Proactive and Responsiveness. 

- Less effective:  Same initial scenario, but once the child starts to scream the educator says with some irritation, "You're okay, I just wiped your nose", and then sighs several times and uses an irritated tone while trying to get the child to stand up and go to their center. In this case, this would be evidence for higher NC, but lower Proactive and Responsiveness. Child behavior would be scored the same way. If it doesn't disrupt others significantly, it could still be a mid or high depending on the other behaviors observed. 

Thus, it is still possible to score at the high end in BM even when children struggle with dysregulation. 

I will note that this explanation doesn't get into the ways that other dimensions can support educators working with children with disabilities. The 2nd Edition field guide has some of those notes throughout, so I would encourage you to look through the other dimensions for that. 

I hope that helps! 

Vicki 

Good morning,

I have a question which I probably know the answer to. Within my agency, we have classrooms where there are multiple children with disabilities and some are very aggressive. I know that while we are observing we are focusing on teachers' interactions with the children. How do I explain it to my teachers? I think they are concerned about the child or children acting out while they are being observed and if it could affects their scoring. Like maybe they are trying to wipe the child's nose and the child falls out because they don't want it wiped or they are trying to tie the child's shoes and they are kicking and rolling over. These are 3–4-year-olds. I would love some feedback about this situation.