Variability in Preschool CLASS Scores and Children's School Readiness

The Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) is a widely
administered measure of classroom quality that assesses teacher-child
interactions in the domains of Emotional Support, Classroom
Organization, and Instructional Support. We use data from an evaluation
of state-funded prekindergarten provided to 684 children from families
with low incomes (M age = 57.56 months, 48% male) to examine the
extent to which CLASS scores vary over the course of an observational
period within a single day and investigate whether this variability is
related to children’s school readiness at the end of the preschool year,
holding constant two additional measures of quality. Teacher-child
interactions in all three domains were moderately stable. Mean
Classroom Organization was positively related to math and variability in
Classroom Organization was negatively related to literacy. Mean
Instructional Support was negatively associated with language. Findings
have implications for programs that utilize the CLASS to make highstakes
decision and inform professional development.