ABSTRACT

Many school districts face the empirical challenge of monitoring program quality to assure that all children experience pre-K environments that foster early learning and development. Factors that are exogenous to classrooms (such as evaluation timing) may play a role in estimates of program quality and yet are not fully understood. This paper examines the role of timing in pre-K classroom quality as it was observed in practice by one of the largest school districts in the United States. In the 2015–2016 school year, New York City (NYC) observed 648 of its Pre-K for All programs using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System Pre-K (CLASS), giving each program an overall average classroom quality rating at one time point. Research Findings: A series of OLS regressions indicated that CLASS scores were lower for programs observed in the fall semester in the domains of Emotional Support and Classroom Organization. Emotional Support also demonstrated a pattern of increasing scores by each month within the fall semester, providing evidence for a relationship-building period between teachers and students early in the school year. Practice or Policy: These findings may be informative for school districts and policymakers who consider using CLASS as an accountability tool.

摘要

许多学区面临着监测计划质量以确保所有儿童都能体验促进早期学习和发展的学前班环境的经验挑战。课堂外生因素（例如评估时间）可能会影响项目质量的估计，但尚未完全了解。本文研究了时间在学前班课堂质量中的作用，正如美国最大的学区之一在实践中所观察到的那样。在 2015-2016 学年，纽约市 (NYC) 使用课堂评估评分系统 Pre-K (CLASS) 观察了 648 个 Pre-K for All 课程，为每个课程提供了一个时间点的整体平均课堂质量评级. 研究成果：一系列 OLS 回归表明，秋季学期在情感支持和课堂组织领域观察到的课程的 CLASS 分数较低。情感支持还表现出在秋季学期内每个月的分数增加的模式，为学年早期师生之间建立关系的时期提供了证据。实践或政策：这些发现可能对考虑使用 CLASS 作为问责工具的学区和政策制定者提供信息。