Infant CLASS: Responsive Caregiving Sylvia Kennedy-Godin April 21, 2020

Many early childhood programs in Vermont now use the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) to support professional growth, improve their practice, and positively impact child outcomes. CLASS is a structured tool based on measurable observations of teacher and child interactions during a typical day. Assessors use a 1 – 7 Likert scale to assign a rating based on the frequency, duration, and intensity of the strategies they observe, while referencing the appropriate CLASS manual for each age group. Participants in this overview of the Infant CLASS (used with children birth – 18 months of age) will identify how effective teacher-child interactions help infants: gain confidence that their needs will be met, rely on a secure base as they explore their surroundings, develop early language and communication skills.