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PreK On My Way Case Study Report
Below, we provide a description of each domain.
• Emotional Support: This domain describes the teacher behaviors that help children develop warm, supportive relationships, enjoyment, and autonomy in their learning environment. • Classroom Organization : This domain describes how teachers help children regulate their own behaviors and get the most out of learning activities. • Instructional Support : This domain describes how teachers use instruction to support children’s cognitive development and language growth .
During our observations, we found that the three CLASS domain scores (CLASS scores range from 1 – 7) in case study classrooms were consistent with what is often seen in other preschool classroom settings, suggesting that these classrooms are typical preschool classrooms in terms of the quality of teacher-child interactions. In both districts, we saw high levels of emotional support and organizational support and low levels of instructional support. In District B, we saw average CLASS scores of 6.2 on emotional support, 6.3 on organizational support, and 2.8 on instructional support in the two observed classrooms. In District A, we saw average CLASS scores of 5.9 on emotional support, 6.2 on organizational support, and 2.7 on instructional support in the two observed classrooms. This is consistent with CLASS data from a few large studies conducted by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the National Center for Early Development
and Learning in several thousand classrooms throughout the country that showed that children in those classrooms were likely to experience moderate to high levels of effective interactions for emotional support and classroom organization, but lower levels of instructional support  (Pianta et al., 2008a)  This suggests that case study classrooms are similar to other preschool classroom settings in terms of CLASS scores. The overall design of PKOMW takes into consideration many of the components that are important to improving the quality of teacher-child interactions in the classroom. CLASS’s instructional support domain includes behavioral indicators such as scaffolding, predictions, back-and-forth exchanges, open-ended questions, and connecting concepts. These indicators are built into the design of PKOMW, which supports children’s cognitive and language development. The PKOMW mind builders are designed to enhance children’s emotional and social development, motivation , and creativity, as well as executive function skills. Additionally, different types of PKOMW activities are in line with the specific teaching behaviors found in the CLASS emotional support and classroom organization domains, such as engaging in essential skills such as managing feelings, following rules and routines, taking responsibility for materials and jobs, making plans, talking and sharing, focusing attention, taking initiative, and using tools (Pianta et al., 2008a).
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