Program Assessments

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The Early Childhood Framework for Quality (EFQ) describes key practices and structures that are essential in high-quality early childhood programs to prepare children for success, many of which are related to early learning environments at a program and the interactions between teaching staff and children. The NYCDOE uses the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) and the Early Childhood Environmental Ratings Scale – Revised (ECERS-3) tools to understand the extent to which 3-K for All and Pre-K for All programs are successful at reaching those high-quality standards that support student development and learning across all five domains of the New York State Prekindergarten Foundation for the Common Core (PKFCC). Both tools are grounded in research about the essential supports for promoting children’s achievement.

Program Assessment Results by Year

The ECERS-R tool was used by the DECE through the 2019 - 2020 school year. All results through that year are based on the ECERS-R. Any future results posted for years after the 2019-2020 school year will be based on ECERS-3.

The Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS)

The CLASS is an observation tool that assesses the quality of teacher-child interactions in preschool classrooms. CLASS includes three domains or categories of teacher-child interactions that support children's learning and development: Emotional Support, Classroom Organization, and Instructional Support. Within each domain are dimensions that capture more specific details about teachers' interactions with children.

Additional resources and information about the CLASS tool are available from the purveyor of the tool, Teachstone, Inc.

CLASS Resources from the NYCDOE

In-Person CLASS trainings offered by the NYCDOE:

DECE Program Assessment Team organizes free full-day CLASS trainings that provide an overview of the CLASS tool. These trainings are not part of the Inspire, Thrive, Explore, or the Create professional learning tracks and are optional workshops that take place outside of the PL tracks.

We are continuing to partner with ProTraxx.com to manage professional learning enrollment and certificates. If you do not have a Protraxx account or would like more information, please visit DECE’s Professional Learning page on InfoHub. Enrollment for CLASS trainings will open on Protraxx one month before each training date and close one week before the event, or sooner if we have reached maximum capacity. You can find more information about CLASS and ECERS-3 ProTraxx enrollment process and our waitlist process in the CLASS and ECERS-3 Protraxx Process One-Pager.

We will list enrollment open dates below. These are the dates when the activity will be open for enrollment on ProTraxx. All trainings are full-day sessions from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm. Space is limited and fills up fast.

In light of state regulations for social distancing and in an abundance of caution, all in-person trainings are cancelled or postponed.

The health and safety of all of our children and staff continues to be our first priority in the wake of the evolving situation around the novel coronavirus, and the Division of Early Childhood Education appreciates your flexibility and patience.

Online CLASS Professional Learning offered by the DOE

Starting June 15, 2020, you will be able to enroll in the Overview of the CLASS Tool online course via Protraxx/Canvas. This course is available to early childhood programs and their staff. The CLASS Overview course will contain four distinct modules and pre-recorded webinars that you can take at any time and in any order. Participants will be eligible to receive 1 CTLE credit hour for completing each module, for a total of 4 CTLE credit hours once all modules have been successfully completed. More details will be provided upon enrollment in the course via Protraxx.

For instructions on how to engage and enroll in this online learning opportunity with your Protraxx account, review this guidance.

If you need to register for a Protraxx account, please review the Professional Learning page for more instructions and FAQs.

The Program Assessment team is working on more potential online professional learning opportunities and will post more information on this page as additional opportunities are made available. View this flyer to learn more broadly about the Division of Early Childhood Education's online professional learning opportunities.

CLASS Webinars

This recorded webinar series provides an overview of the way that the NYCDOE uses the CLASS tool and all components of the tool. These webinars are available for your review at any time and are not associated with CTLE credit hours in this format. If you are interested in obtaining CTLE credit, please enroll in the Overview of the CLASS Tool online PL opportunity as described in the above section.

  • CLASS 101 Webinar - 34min
    • CLASS 101 Presentation PDF - coming soon!
    • Content Description: Why the Division of Early Childhood Education (DECE) uses the CLASS tool; what the CLASS tool measures; and what to expect before, during, and after a CLASS assessment
  • CLASS 102 Webinar - 37min
    • CLASS 102 Presentation PDF
    • Content Description: Emotional Support domain (and the Regard for Student Perspectives dimension); Classroom Organization domain (and the Instructional Learning Formats dimension)
  • CLASS 103 Webinar - 45min
    • CLASS 103 Presentation PDF
    • Content Description: Instructional Support domain (and the Concept Development, Quality of Feedback, and Language Modeling dimensions)
  • CLASS 104 A Webinar - 34min
    • CLASS 104 A Presentation PDF
    • Content Description: How to read and interpret your CLASS report from FY 2019 and earlier; and using your CLASS report to inform your early childhood program goals
  • CLASS 104 B Webinar - 36min
    • CLASS 104 B Presentation PDF
    • Content Description: How to read and interpret your CLASS report from FY 2020; and using your CLASS report to inform your early childhood program goals

The Early Childhood Environmental Rating System - 3 (ECERS-3)

The ECERS-3 is an observation tool that assesses the quality of the overall learning environment. ECERS-3 includes 6 subscales: Space and Furnishings, Personal Care Routines, Language-Reasoning, Activities, Interaction, and Program Structure. Within each subscale are rubrics that look at specific aspects of the learning environment.

Additional resources and information about the ECERS-3 tool are available from the purveyor of the tool, the Environment Rating Scales Institute.

ECERS-3 Resources from the NYCDOE

In-Person ECERS-R trainings offered by the DOE

DECE Program Assessment Team organizes free full-day ECERS-3 trainings that provide an overview of the ECERS-3 tool. These trainings are not part of the Inspire, Thrive, Explore, or the Create professional learning tracks and are optional workshops that take place outside of the PL tracks.

We are continuing to partner with ProTraxx.com to manage professional learning enrollment and certificates. If you do not have a Protraxx account or would like more information, please visit DECE’s Professional Learning page on InfoHub. Enrollment for ECERS-3 trainings will open on Protraxx one month before each training date and close one week before the event, or sooner if we have reached maximum capacity. You can find more information about CLASS and ECERS-3 ProTraxx enrollment process and our waitlist process in the CLASS ECERS-3 Protraxx Process One-Pager.

We have listed enrollment open dates below. These are the dates when the activity will be open for enrollment on Protraxx. All trainings are full-day sessions from 8:30am to 3:30pm. Space is limited and fills up fast.

In light of state regulations for social distancing and in an abundance of caution, all in-person trainings are cancelled or postponed.

The health and safety of all of our children and staff continues to be our first priority in the wake of the evolving situation around the novel coronavirus, and the Division of Early Childhood Education appreciates your flexibility and patience.

Online ECERS-3 Professional Learning Offered by the DOE

Bridge to ECERS-3 - This self-directed online professional learning course will explain the main differences between the updated ECERS-3 tool and the ECERS-R tool. You will be eligible for CTLE credit upon successful completion of this course. To enroll in the Bridge to ECERS-3 online course, please login to your Protraxx account. If you do not have a Protraxx account, you can register by visiting our Professional Learning page for instructions and FAQs.

View this flyer to learn more about additional online professional learning opportunities from the DOE.