A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of a Measure of Staff/Child Interaction Quality (the Classroom Assessment Scoring System) in Early Childhood Education and Care Settings and Child Outcomes

Abstract

The quality of staff/child interactions as measured by the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) programs is thought to be important for children’s outcomes. The CLASS is made of three domains that assess Emotional Support, Classroom Organization and Instructional Support. It is a relatively new measure that is being used increasingly for research, quality monitoring/accountability and other applied purposes. Our objective was to evaluate the association between the CLASS and child outcomes. Searches of Medline, PsycINFO, ERIC, websites of large datasets and reference sections of all retrieved articles were conducted up to July 3, 2015. Studies that measured association between the CLASS and child outcomes for preschool-aged children who attended ECEC programs were included after screening by two independent reviewers. Searches and data extraction were conducted by two independent reviewers. Thirty-five studies were systematically reviewed of which 19 provided data for meta-analyses. Most studies had moderate to high risk of bias. Of the 14 meta-analyses we conducted, associations between Classroom Organization and Pencil Tapping and between Instructional Support and SSRS Social Skills were significant with pooled correlations of .06 and .09 respectively. All associations were in the expected direction. In the systematic review, significant correlations were reported mainly from one large dataset. Substantial heterogeneity in use of the CLASS, its dimensions, child outcomes and statistical measures was identified. Greater consistency in study methodology is urgently needed. Given the multitude of factors that impact child development it is encouraging that our analyses revealed some, although small, associations between the CLASS and children’s outcomes.

Impact of Process Quality in Early Childhood Education and Care on Academic Outcomes: Longitudinal Meta‐Analysis

“…Two quality indicators have been discussed and studied as key to explaining how regular center‐based provision relates to child outcomes: global and domain‐specific process quality (Halle, Vick Whittaker, & Anderson, ; Kluczniok & Roßbach, ). Despite numerous studies and reviews on effects of process quality, only a few meta‐analyses have been conducted with less conclusive findings (Brunsek et al, ; Burchinal, Kainz, & Cai, ; Burchinal, Zaslow, & Tarullo, ; Keys et al, ; Perlman et al, ). Moreover, these meta‐analyses focused on evidence from the United States.…”

“…Interestingly, the effects of the ECERS‐R were superimposed by effects of the more interaction‐specific CLASS subscale or domain‐specific measures, yet again analyzed separately for the included studies. Perlman et al (), however, report no significant overall effect for the CLASS in a meta‐analysis of U.S. studies; and Brunsek et al () observed a significant effect for the ECERS‐R only for language but not math outcomes. In contrast to other meta‐analyses both did not consider children’s individual characteristics and family background in their analyses, which seems important given that children from disadvantaged backgrounds are overrepresented in most of the U.S. studies.…”

The Effects of Accountability Incentives in Early Childhood Education

“…It is notoriously challenging to measure quality in ECE settings in ways that are systematically and strongly related to children's learning gains (Burchinal, ). Still, existing research suggests that, although they are costlier to collect, measures of process quality (e.g., the Classroom Assessment Scoring System [CLASS]), are more consistent, though modest, predictors of children's learning than are structural measures (Araujo et al., ; Hamre & Pianta, ; Howes et al., ; Mashburn et al., ; Perlman et al., ; Sabol et al., ).…”

The Effects of Accountability Incentives in Early Childhood Education

“…It is notoriously challenging to measure quality in ECE settings in ways that are systematically and strongly related to children's learning gains (Burchinal, 2018). Still, existing research suggests that, although they are costlier to collect, measures of process quality (e.g., the Classroom Assessment Scoring System [CLASS]), are more consistent, though modest, predictors of children's learning than are structural measures (Araujo et al, 2016;Hamre & Pianta, 2005;Howes et al, 2008;Mashburn et al, 2008;Perlman et al, 2016;Sabol et al, 2013).…”