Professionals’ Perceptions of the Classroom Assessment Scoring System as a structure for professional community and development

The study investigates Norwegian kindergarten teachers’ perceptions and reflections on the use of the ‘Classroom Assessment Scoring System’ (CLASS) for professional development. The research question is: What perceptions and reflections do kindergarten teachers have about CLASS as a system for individual and collective learning in Norwegian kindergartens?

The study shows that CLASS contributed to positive structures for professional community and development where both individual and collective learning took place. The CLASS structure also improved the collaboration between the kindergarten and the surrounding support system. The content analysis resulted in four main categories: ‘A common professional platform’, ‘Professionalisation’, ‘Quality in practice’ and ‘Results for children and parents’. Overall, the findings contribute to new knowledge about how kindergarten staff experience CLASS as a tool for professional development, sense of community, improved collaboration and more deliberate practice.

The researchers conducted focus group interviews, group interviews and in-depth interviews with a subsequent conventional content analysis. The study was conducted in a municipality in Western Norway, and the sample consisted of a total of 29 women from nine different kindergartens and four different agencies from the support system in the municipality. All participants had either worked with CLASS for two to four years, or had certification as CLASS observers.

Evertsen, C., Størksen, I., & Kucirkova, N. (2022). Professionals’ Perceptions of the Classroom Assessment Scoring System as a structure for professional community and development. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 30(5), 701–714.