Month: September 2018

CLASS Training to Increase Your Instructional Support Scores

As we all know, it’s essential to have high CLASS scores. High scoring classrooms are a great indicator of positive teacher/child interactions that effectively support children’s learning and development. This leads to successful CLASS Reviews as well as best practices in the classroom. Most Head Start programs score lowest in the Instructional Support domain. This is understandable as some of the indicators within Concept Development, Quality of Feedback and Language Modeling are complex.

This hands-on training will address the indicators and behavioral markers under each of the dimensions within Instructional Support. Utilizing the teachers’ daily schedule, we will provide concrete strategies on how to attain high CLASS scores in Instructional Support. This targeted training will focus on ways to implement Instructional Support throughout the day. We will demonstrate how to naturally incorporate high scoring Instructional Support during large group activities, small group activities, center time, transitions and routines, meals… every part of the Head Start day!

This custom designed training will include items such as:

  • Analysis and Reasoning: Learn how to integrate the “how” and “why” of children’s learning.
  • Integration: Learn how to effectively make meaningful connections from new to prior learning.
  • Scaffolding: Learn how to provide assistance, feedback and questioning to assist children in continuing to learn and work at a higher level.
  • Feedback Loops: Learn how to increase language through sustained conversations, comments and follow-up questions in supporting a higher level of insight and comprehension.
  • Repetition & Extension: Learn how to acknowledge and build on each child’s unique ideas and contributions to a lesson or conversation.
  • Self- & Parallel Talk: Learn how to best map both your actions & the children’s actions as a means for language modeling.

The entirety of the training will be framed in terms of the Head Start classroom – including what a “7” looks like for each of the indicators and behavioral markers under Instructional Support. We will offer practice-based strategies to increase CLASS scores in each of these indicators and behavioral markers. We will address best practices as it pertains to teaching behaviors and interactions.

If your program’s scores are lowest in Emotional Support or Classroom Organization, we can focus on that domain instead.

A variety of learning styles will be explored such as videos, role plays, small group activities, pair and share, question and answer sessions, and other interactive exercises. The participants in this training will have many hands-on opportunities to see what high-scoring Instructional Support looks like – as adult learning is best when the participants can see, feel and experience the information that is being presented.

Are you looking for highly interactive and custom designed “CLASS Training to Increase Your Instructional Support Scores”? Give us a call at (704) 451-3255 or email us at kristinecortina@hsessentials.com.

Conducting your ITERS & ECERS Observations

Are you looking for someone to come to your program and conduct ITERS or ECERS observations of your classrooms?

We conduct ITERS & ECERS observations for Head Start and Early Head Start programs.  As outside observers, we have the objectivity needed to observe classrooms without the possibility of bias. The results of these observations will provide you with the data that you need to make decisions in your program.

The ITERS & ECERS observations include:

  • Observations of each of your classrooms;
  • A debriefing with each Teacher after the observation to provide them with feedback and reflection of the results;
  • The opportunity for your Education Coordinator or Mentor Coach to sit in on the debriefings – for continuity purposes;
  • A meeting with you (and your Management team if you want) to discuss the results of the observations;
  • The scores, a report of the strengths & areas of improvement of each classroom, and a list of program-wide issues that are causing lower scores and recommendations to address and correct those issues.

We also provide training on the ITERS and ECERS tools. Our highly interactive and practice-based training includes on-site training as well as practice conducting the ITERS or ECERS observations and debriefing/consultation after the observations.  The training, observations and debriefings/consultation will provide your staff with the knowledge and hands-on experience to conduct ITERS or ECERS in their classrooms independently.

Are you looking for ITERS or ECERS observations or training on the ITERS or ECERS tools? Give us a call at (704) 451-3255 or email us at kristinecortina@hsessentials.com.