During the 2018–2019 program year, the Office of Head Start (OHS) used the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS®) Pre-K Teacher-Child Observation Instrument during its on-site reviews of grant recipients. CLASS-reliable reviewers visited a random sample of preschool classrooms to obtain grant recipient-level scores. This document provides descriptive statistics of the 2019 grant recipient-level CLASS data.
For more information, explore Use of CLASS in Head Start Programs. Select this link for the PDF version of the report: A National Overview of Grant Recipient CLASS Scores in 2019. Individual grant recipient CLASS reports also are available in the Agency Service Profile.
National Statistics by Dimension
In 2019, 159 Head Start grant recipients received CLASS reviews. The CLASS tool has 10 dimensions of teacher-child interactions rated on a 7-point scale, from low to high. The 10 CLASS dimensions are organized into three domains: Emotional Support, Classroom Organization, and Instructional Support.
- Emotional Support assesses the degree to which teachers establish and promote a positive climate in their classroom through their everyday interactions.
- Classroom Organization assesses classroom routines and procedures related to the organization and management of children's behavior, time, and attention in the classroom.
- Instructional Support assesses the ways in which teachers implement the curriculum to effectively promote cognitive and language development.
| Domain | Dimension | Mean | Standard Deviation | Minimum | Maximum |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emotional Support | Positive Climate | 5.97 | 0.34 | 5.00 | 7.00 |
| Negative Climate | 1.07 | 0.08 | 1.00 | 1.48 | |
| Teacher Sensitivity | 5.87 | 0.35 | 4.75 | 6.92 | |
| Regard for Student Perspectives | 5.43 | 0.42 | 3.88 | 6.50 | |
| Classroom Organization | Behavior Management | 5.99 | 0.38 | 4.92 | 7.00 |
| Productivity | 6.09 | 0.35 | 4.88 | 7.00 | |
| Instructional Learning Formats | 5.29 | 0.39 | 4.25 | 6.50 | |
| Instructional Support | Concept Development | 2.43 | 0.44 | 1.44 | 4.00 |
| Quality of Feedback | 2.88 | 0.47 | 1.88 | 4.41 | |
| Language Modeling | 3.42 | 0.51 | 2.12 | 4.67 |
National Statistics by Domain
Grant recipient-level dimension scores are averaged to produce grant recipient-level domain scores.* Previous large-scale studies of CLASS have shown that the average preschool classroom scores are higher in the domains of Emotional Support and Classroom Organization than in the domain of Instructional Support.
| Domain | Mean | Standard Deviation | Minimum | Maximum | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emotional Support | 6.05 | 0.26 | 5.13 | 6.73 | |
| Classroom Organization | 5.79 | 0.32 | 4.92 | 6.67 | |
| Instructional Support | 2.91 | 0.42 | 1.94 | 4.26 | |
*Note: To calculate the Emotional Support domain, subtract the Negative Climate score from 8, add the Positive Climate, Teacher Sensitivity, and Regard for Student Perspective scores, then divide by 4.
Distribution by Domain
The following table and graphs provide additional information on how grant recipient-level domain scores are distributed nationally.
| Domain | Lowest 10% | Median (50%) | Highest 10% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Emotional Support | 5.6875 | 6.08 | 6.38 |
| Classroom Organization | 5.3241 | 5.82 | 6.17 |
| Instructional Support | 2.3333 | 2.92 | 3.45 |
Glossary
Mean: the average value, calculated by summing all scores and dividing by the number of scores
Median: the middle value, where half the scores are below this point and half are above it
N: the total number of values in a set
Standard Deviation: a value that shows how much variation exists in a set of data. There are two types of standard deviation (i.e., sample and population). We use the population standard deviation because this data set includes all 2019 CLASS scores.
« Go to National Overview of Grant Recipient CLASS® Scores by Year
Last Updated: January 15, 2025