Examining the Validity of an Observational Tool of Classroom Support for Children’s Engagement in Learning

Abstract

High-quality early childhood education provides children with opportunities for engaged learning. Yet there are currently no classroom-level measures that focus specifically on how teachers support engagement in the classroom, a key underlying dimension of playful learning. We introduce the Playful Learning Across the Years (PLAY) observational tool, a new tool designed to assess support for engaged learning in early childhood classrooms. Using data from videos of Ghanaian preprimary classrooms (N = 420) coded using the tool, we conduct factor analysis to assess the underlying domains of engaged learning opportunities at the classroom-level and find three domains representing support for exploration, social connectedness, and positive emotional climate. We then examine if these domains are sensitive to impacts of a teacher professional development program and find that the program had large impacts on all three domains (d = 0.55–1.01). Finally, we explore concurrent validity of the tool using classroom process quality scores from a separate classroom observational tool and teacher characteristics and find some evidence from each. This study aims to systematically operationalize opportunities for engaged learning at the classroom-level in an under-studied context, with implications for measuring quality and promoting children’s school readiness in early educational settings globally.