CLASS® Manual - Toddler - English

The highly anticipated toddler version of the CLASS® tool is here -- providing early childhood programs with an accurate, reliable way to assess effective classrooms. For use with children from 15-36 months, this standardized observation tool measures the effectiveness of interactions between teachers and children, a primary ingredient of early educational experiences that prepare children for future school success. The first tool to measure teacher–child interactions for the toddler age group, CLASS® Toddler:

• Covers two crucial domains of teacher–child interaction: Emotional And Behavioral Support and Engaged Support For Learning
• Provides developmentally appropriate descriptions of what effective interactions look like in toddler classrooms
• Establishes an accurate, complete picture of classroom interactions through brief, repeated observation and scoring cycles
• Highlights areas of strength and areas for improvement useful for guiding improvement efforts
• Identifies challenges and helps identify areas for improvement
• Provides important information related to programs’ most urgent needs: accountability, professional development, and research
• Has been used in several state evaluation systems and for national evaluations of Early Head Start

This useful manual includes detailed descriptions of the 8 CLASS® Toddler Dimensions, administration procedures, and information about the tool's development.

One copy of the CLASS® Toddler Dimensions Overview, a tri-fold reference sheet for observers, is included with the manual. The manual is spiral-bound and contains 80 pages.

This manual is part of CLASS®, the bestselling classroom observational tool that measures interactions between children and teachers -- a primary ingredient of high-quality educational experiences. With versions for toddler programs, PreK, and K-3 classrooms, the reliable and valid CLASS® tool establishes an accurate picture of the classroom through brief, repeated observation and scoring cycles and effectively pinpoints areas for improvement.

CLASS® Toddler

The accurate, reliable way to assess teacher–child interactions

For programs serving children from 15–36 months

With this toddler version of the widely used Classroom Assessment Scoring System® (CLASS®) tool, your early childhood program will have an accurate, reliable way to assess classrooms. The CLASS® Toddler tool assesses teacher–child interactions, a primary ingredient of early educational experiences that prepare children for future school success.

This reliable and valid tool:

• Assesses two crucial domains of teacher–child interaction: Emotional and Behavioral Support and Engaged Support for Learning
• Provides developmentally appropriate descriptions of what effective interactions look like in toddler classrooms
• Establishes an accurate picture of classroom interactions through brief, repeated observation and scoring cycles
• Highlights areas of strength and areas for growth useful for guiding improvement efforts

The CLASS® Toddler Dimensions

The CLASS® Toddler tool measures eight critical dimensions that fall under two domains:

Emotional and behavioral support

• Positive climate
• Negative climate
• Teacher sensitivity
• Regard for child perspectives
• Behavior guidance

Engaged support for learning

• Facilitation of learning and development
• Quality of feedback
• Language modeling