Poster #181 - Improving Preschool Classroom Quality Through a State-wide Initiative

• In Event: 3-159 - Poster Session 12
  In Poster Session: PS 12 Section - School Readiness/Childcare

Integrative Statement

Federal, state, and local policy makers are working to improve preschool classroom quality, and many use the Classroom Assessment Scoring System® (CLASS®) to measure progress (Hamre et al., 2009). There is evidence that providing preschool teachers with focused and intensive professional development (PD) (Hamre et al., 2012; Pianta et al., 2014) can improve classroom quality, but less is known about how a more generalized multi-year program of support from a state department of education can lead to improved teaching practice in preschool classrooms. This study examines whether and to what extent teachers’ CLASS® scores improved over the course of three years when exposed to a range of PD opportunities.
Method
The sample includes 40 teachers who were part of a large state-funded PreK initiative from 2015 to 2017. During this period, teachers received coaching and PD on topics including supportive environments, classroom organization and management, and teacher-child interactions. The content and dosage of PD varied substantially based on teacher need and preference (e.g., coaching for the 2016-17 SY ranged from less than 1 hour to 11 hours/month per teacher). Each teacher was observed by a certified observer and received a CLASS® rating in fall 2015 and fall 2017. The CLASS® is a tool that measures the daily interactions between teachers and students and among students across three domains: emotional support, classroom organization, and instructional support. The state’s quality rating and improvement system set thresholds at 5 or higher in the emotional support and classroom organization domains and 3.25 or higher in the instructional support domain. We conducted paired samples t-tests to assess mean-level changes in CLASS® domain scores from fall 2015 to fall 2017 and McNemar’s test to determine if a significant proportion of teachers demonstrated improvement (i.e., scored below the threshold in fall 2015, but above the threshold at fall 2017).
Preliminary Findings
On average, there was a significant improvement in teachers’ CLASS® scores from fall 2015 to fall 2017 on all three domains (Table 1). Figure 1 shows the percentage of teachers whose scores remained low, remained high, declined, or improved. There was not a significant percentage of teachers that improved on the emotional support domain, in part, because 82.5% of teachers met or exceeded the threshold at both time points. A significant proportion of teachers improved from fall 2015 to fall 2017 on the classroom organization (27.5%) and instructional support (40%) domains. However, 20% of teachers scored below the threshold on instructional support at both time points. Preliminary analyses indicated that teachers who remained below the threshold had more years of teaching experience yet were less likely to have a master’s degree (25%) in comparison to teachers who met or exceeded the threshold for at least one-time point (40-60% with master’s). Next steps include analyzing differences (e.g., by coaching supports, receipt of PD) between teachers who improved on the instructional support domain versus teachers who consistently scored below the threshold. Understanding what distinguishes these teachers could inform strategies to further improve efforts to enhance teacher instructional support.

Authors

• Kirby Chow, SRI Education
  Presenting Author

• Todd Grindal, SRI Education
  Non-Presenting Author

• Erika Gaylor, SRI Education
  Non-Presenting Author

• Shari Golan, SRI Education
  Non-Presenting Author

• Cyndi Williamson, SRI Education
  Non-Presenting Author