Editor’s Note
For comments on this article, read Karin Chenoweth on the importance of curriculum in high-quality classrooms; William T. Gormley, Jr., and Deborah A. Phillips on looking inside the black box of early childhood education; Sharon Lynn Kagan on the era of “teaching accountability;” Laura Kohn on the continuum of quality preK-elementary teaching; and Susan H. Landry on the definition of “quality” teaching.
Volume 24, Number 1
January/February 2008
Neither Art nor Accident
New research helps define and develop quality preK and elementary teaching
By SUE MILLER WILTZ
Neither Art nor Accident, continued
Neither Art nor Accident: New research helps define and develop quality preK and elementary teaching
Neither Art nor Accident
Study after study shows that quality teaching is the most powerful factor in student learning. But how do you define quality teaching in a way that can be measured and taught? Dr. Robert Pianta, director of the Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning and the National Center for Research on Early Childhood Education, developed the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) to measure quality instruction in the preK–5 classroom. Nearly 1,000 observers from schools and districts in 23 states are now trained in administering CLASS, and about 600 teachers in 8 states are beginning to use MyTeachingPartner, an online professional development program based on CLASS. Pianta, who also serves as dean of the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia, spoke with Harvard Education Letter
contributing writer Sue Miller Wiltz about how his research can help clarify and improve the quality of teaching in preK and elementary classrooms.
This article is part of an ongoing series on the education of children from preK through grade 3, made possible through the support of the Foundation for Child Development.
This is an excerpt from the Harvard Education Letter.
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Study after study shows that quality teaching is the most powerful factor in student learning. But how do you define quality teaching in a way that can be measured and taught? Dr. Robert Pianta, director of the Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning and the National Center for Research on Early Childhood Education, developed the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) to measure quality instruction in the preK–5 classroom. Nearly 1,000 observers from schools and districts in 23 states are now trained in administering CLASS, and about 600 teachers in 8 states are beginning to use MyTeachingPartner, an online professional development program based on CLASS. Pianta, who also serves as dean of the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia, spoke with Harvard Education Letter
contributing writer Sue Miller Wiltz about how his research can help clarify and improve the quality of teaching in preK and elementary classrooms.
This article is part of an ongoing series on the education of children from preK through grade 3, made possible through the support of the Foundation for Child Development.
For Further Information
CLASS website:
www.classobservation.com
C. Howes, M. Burchinal, R. Pianta, D. Bryant, D. Early, R. Clifford, et al. “Ready to Learn? Children’s Pre-academic Achievement in Pre-kindergarten Programs.”
Early Childhood Research Quarterly, in press.
A. Mashburn, R. Pianta, B. Hamre, J. Downer, O. Barbarin, D. Bryant, et al. “Pre-K Quality and Children’s Development of Academic, Language and Social Skills.”
Child Development, in press.
MyTeachingPartner website:
www.myteachingpartner.net/index.php
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. “Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development.”
R. Pianta, K. La Paro, and B. Hamre.
Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) Manual, K–3. Baltimore: Brookes Publishing, 2008.
R. Pianta, K. La Paro, and B. Hamre.
Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) Manual, PreK. Baltimore: Brookes Publishing, 2008.
R. Pianta et al.
“Opportunities to Learn in America’s Elementary Classrooms.” Science (March 30, 2007), pp. 1795-1796.
R. Pianta et al.
School Readiness and the Transition to Kindergarten in the Era of Accountability. Baltimore: Brookes Publishing, 2007.