Gains and challenges with the Classroom Assessment Scoring System in a social pedagogical tradition

The study investigates how employees in Norwegian kindergartens experience using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) within a socio-pedagogical tradition. The researchers focus on how CLASS can help kindergarten employees understand what is good quality in the interaction between adults and children, and how this can be used to improve kindergarten practice. In addition, the researchers investigate the challenges that arise when CLASS, which originates from a school-preparatory tradition, meets the Norwegian approach, which is more play- and care-oriented. The research questions are: How do Norwegian CLASS observers and the employees being observed experience the use of CLASS within the socio-pedagogical tradition in kindergarten?

The results show that kindergarten employees view CLASS as a tool for systematic observation and feedback. CLASS helped employees identify strengths and areas of improvement in the pedagogical practice. In addition, employees highlighted the need to adapt CLASS to Norwegian conditions, particularly considering that concepts like ‘productivity’ and the use of ‘classroom’ do not always align with the Norwegian pedagogical context.

The data consist of four focus group interviews involving 22 participants, two group interviews with four participants and three individual in-depth interviews, all of which were conducted online. The sample consisted of kindergarten staff, including pedagogical leaders, kindergarten teachers, assistants and CLASS observers from various kindergartens in a municipality in southwest Norway. A total of 29 kindergarten employees, all with 4-5 years of experience using CLASS, participated. A content analysis was used to extract key themes from the data material.

Evertsen, C., Størksen, I., Tharaldsen, K. B. & Kucirkova, N. (2023). Gains and challenges with the Classroom Assessment Scoring System in a social pedagogical tradition. Frontiers in Education, 7:965174.