BackHome
Refresh: OffView Personal Schedule
Individual Submission Summary
Share...

Direct link:

Canadian French Classroom Assessment Scoring System Infant, Toddler and Pre-K tools: a Pilot Research

Fri, April 9, 11:45am to 12:45pm EDT (11:45am to 12:45pm EDT), Virtual

Abstract

High quality early childhood education promotes children's development. Recently, Quebec’s (Canada) Family Ministry worked towards putting into place a Quality Rating and Improvement Measure within child care centers. Based on a literature review, Quality of interactions was found to be the most relevant dimensions of process quality to assess and the Classroom assessment Scoring System (CLASS; Hamre et al., 2014; La Paro et al., 2012; Pianta et al., 2008) the best tool to measure it. Preliminary work consisted of translating the CLASS Infant, Toddler and Pre-K tools in Canadian French and to validate the tools. The aim of the current pilot research is to: 1) describes the data gathered with the translated CLASS tools and, 2) presents their reliability and validity.

This pilot research was conducted in Montreal metropolitan area (Quebec, Canada). Subjects are 267 classrooms (46 Infant, 108 Toddler and 113 Pre-K) located within 68 childcare centers (31 non-profits, 15 for-profit with subsidies, 22 for-profits no subsidies). Live classroom observations were conducted in the fall 2018. Observations lasted 2.5 hours, with data collectors conducting four 30-min CLASS cycles (20-min observation and 10-min scoring) during a single visit. At the end, they also collected data about the quality of the physical environment (Cantin et al., 2017), the educators’ observation and planning practices (Cantin et al., 2017) and the caregiver-child relationship (Arnett, 1989).

Results indicated that scores on the Canadian French CLASS tools (CF) were generally higher than those on the original CLASS tools (O). Responsive Caregiving on the CLASS Infant obtained a score of 4.80 (CF) compared to 4.20 obtained by the University of North Carolina (O). On the CLASS Toddler, scores obtained were 5.29 for Emotional and Behavioral Support and 3.22 for Engaged support for Learning (CF) compared respectively to 4.62 and 2.83 obtained by the North Carolina Rated Licenses Assessment Program (O). On the CLASS-Pre-K, scores obtained were 5.82 for Emotional Support, 5.70 for Classroom Organization and 2.64 for Instructional Support (CF) compared respectively to 5.07, 4.97 and 2.80 obtained in MyTeachingPartner (O).The translated CLASS tools showed good interrater reliability (86% to 91% agreement) and internal consistency (α from 0.80 to 0.92). Results also provided evidence for convergent validity. Firstly, CLASS scores were higher in non-profit childcare centers than in for-profits ones (Infant: F(2,50)=13.64, p=0.00; Toddler Emotional and Behavioral Support: F(2,107)=19.95, p=0.00; Toddler Engaged Support for Learning: F(2,107)=15.78, p=0.00; Pre-K Emotional Support: F(2,112)=10.18, p=0.00; Pre-K Instructional Support: F(2,112)=7.11, p=0.00). Secondly, CLASS scores were associated with quality of the physical environment (r = .33-.46), the educators’ observation and planning practices (r = .32-.67) and the caregiver-child relationship (Sensitivity: r = .49-.70; Harshness: r = -.24--.51; Detachement: r = -.42--.63).

In addition to provide evidence for the good reliability and validity of the translated CLASS tools, the discussion highlights cross-cultural differences in the classrooms, childcare centers, and regulations that could explain the scores obtained in this pilot research. In conclusion, the Canadian French CLASS Infant, Toddler and Pre-K tools could be use in Quebec’s Quality Rating and Improvement Measure.

Authors