The CLASS Assessment 2nd Edition: What VPK & Preschool Teachers Need to Know This Year

If you are a VPK teacher preparing for a CLASS observation this school year, there is an important change you need to know about: CLASS has transitioned to the 2nd Edition.

That means teachers should not prepare for their CLASS observation using only information, examples, or materials based on the older CLASS 2008 version.

While the heart of CLASS remains the same—high-quality, meaningful teacher-child interactions—CLASS 2nd Edition includes updated language, definitions, indicators, behavioral markers, and observation guidance.

So, if you have been preparing for CLASS the same way you have in previous years, this is the year to become familiar with the updated tool.

What Is the CLASS Assessment?

CLASS stands for Classroom Assessment Scoring System.

Unlike assessments that focus primarily on your classroom materials, lesson plans, decorations, or curriculum, CLASS focuses on something much more important:

The quality of the interactions happening between teachers and children throughout the day.

During an observation, a certified CLASS observer watches what actually happens in your classroom.

They are looking at questions such as:

• Do children feel comfortable and connected to their teacher?

• Does the teacher notice and respond to children's needs?

• Are children actively engaged?

• Does the teacher encourage children's independence?

• Are expectations and routines clear?

• Does the teacher ask questions that encourage children to think?

• Does the teacher extend children's responses?

• Does the teacher introduce and expand vocabulary?

• Are children receiving meaningful feedback?

This is why CLASS preparation should never be about creating a "perfect lesson" for observation day.

It should be about developing strong teacher-child interactions that happen naturally every day.

🚨 Important for Teachers: CLASS 2nd Edition Is Here

CLASS 2nd Edition is not an entirely different assessment.

The foundational concepts of CLASS remain, but Teachstone has updated the tool to make observation guidance clearer, more consistent, and more representative of today's classrooms.

Some of the updates include:

Updated dimension definitions: The definitions have been revised to explain better what observers should look for across different classroom settings.

Updated indicators and behavioral markers: Teachers and observers may notice changes in the language used to describe effective interactions.

Greater consideration of different children and classroom settings. The updated guidance is designed to better represent children with different abilities, backgrounds, languages, and learning environments.

Clearer guidance for observers. The revisions are intended to help observers interpret interactions more consistently.

For teachers, the biggest takeaway is simple:

Do not assume that everything you learned about the previous CLASS tool is exactly the same in CLASS 2nd Edition.

The foundation is familiar, but teachers should begin learning the updated language and expectations.

What Has NOT Changed?

This is the part I want teachers to remember:

CLASS is still about interactions.

You do not need to completely change who you are as a teacher.

A beautiful classroom does not automatically produce a high CLASS score.

An expensive curriculum does not automatically produce a high CLASS score.

And memorizing a list of CLASS phrases will not automatically produce a high CLASS score.

Observers need to see meaningful interactions happening with children.

For example, instead of simply asking:

"What color is this?"

you might continue the conversation:

"Yes, it's red! What else have you seen that is red?"

And then:

"Why do you think a stop sign is red?"

That small interaction gives the child more opportunities to talk, think, connect ideas, and use language.

The CLASS Domains

CLASS looks at different areas of teacher-child interaction. Teachers should become familiar with the domains and dimensions included in the CLASS 2nd Edition Pre-K–3rd tool and, most importantly, understand what those interactions actually look and sound like during a normal preschool day.

Instead of trying to "perform" for CLASS, begin asking yourself:

What would an observer see and hear in my classroom every day?

Emotional Support Starts With Relationships

Children learn best when they feel safe, respected, comfortable, and connected to the adults around them.

Strong interactions can be as simple as:

-Greeting children warmly.

-Getting down to a child's eye level.

-Listening when a child speaks.

-Acknowledging children's emotions.

-Showing genuine enjoyment.

-Encouraging independence.

-Respecting children's ideas and perspectives.

-Using a calm, positive tone when redirecting behavior.

These moments may seem small, but together they create the emotional climate of your classroom.

Classroom Organization Is More Than Having a Schedule

A well-organized classroom isn't necessarily a perfectly quiet classroom.

Preschool classrooms should have movement, conversation, exploration, and play.

What matters is whether children understand expectations and whether teachers are able to maximize learning time.

Think about your transitions.

-Are children waiting for long periods?

-What are they doing while they wait?

-Could you sing a rhyming song?

-Practice letter sounds?

-Count children?

-Ask a question about your current study?

Every part of the preschool day can become an opportunity for interaction and learning.

Instructional Support: The Area Teachers Often Find Most Challenging

Instructional Support is about much more than teaching letters and numbers.

It is about how you help children think.

One of the easiest ways to strengthen this area is to move beyond questions that have only one correct answer.

Instead of:

"What shape is this?"

Try:

"How do you know that's a triangle?"

Instead of:

"Which tower is taller?"

Try:

"What could you do to make this tower taller?"

Instead of:

"What happened in the story?"

Try:

"Why do you think the character did that?"

Then continue the conversation.

"What makes you think that?"

"Tell me more."

"What do you think would happen if...?"

"How could we find out?"

The goal is not simply asking more questions.

The goal is creating back-and-forth conversations that extend children's thinking.

Feedback Should Keep the Conversation Going

One of the biggest mistakes teachers can make is stopping an interaction after a child gives the correct answer.

Child: "Five."

Teacher: "Good job!"

The interaction is over.

Instead, try extending it.

Child: "Five."

Teacher: "You counted five! How did you figure that out?"

Child explains.

Teacher: "What would happen if I added one more?"

Now you have transformed a simple question into a learning conversation.

Vocabulary Should Happen Naturally

You do not need to walk around using complicated words just because you are being observed.

Instead, introduce richer vocabulary naturally during children's play and conversations.

If a child says:

"I made a big building."

You might respond:

"You built a very tall structure. What could make your structure more stable?"

You acknowledged the child's idea while introducing words such as structure and stable in a meaningful context.

Don't Forget Centers and Play

Some of your strongest CLASS interactions can happen during center time.

Blocks can become conversations about measurement, balance, structures, shapes, and problem-solving.

Dramatic play can encourage vocabulary, social problem-solving, sequencing, and conversation.

Science can encourage predicting, observing, comparing, and explaining.

Art can encourage children to describe their choices and creative process.

The goal isn't to turn play into a worksheet lesson.

The goal is to join children's learning and extend it through conversation.

How Should You Prepare for CLASS 2nd Edition?

Start practicing now—not the week before your observation.

Focus on:

• Increasing back-and-forth conversations.

• Asking more open-ended questions.

• Following children's ideas.

• Giving children time to answer.

• Asking follow-up questions.

• Encouraging children to explain their thinking.

• Expanding children's vocabulary.

• Connecting new information to children's experiences.

• Encouraging problem-solving.

• Providing specific feedback.

• Supporting independence.

• Creating warm, respectful relationships.

Most importantly, practice these interactions throughout the entire day.

CLASS isn't something you should "turn on" when the observer enters your classroom.

A Final Reminder for VPK Teachers

If you are being observed using CLASS 2nd Edition, make sure the resources you are studying reflect the updated tool.

Older CLASS strategies can still contain valuable teaching practices because the core focus on teacher-child interactions remains, but teachers should become familiar with the terminology and guidance used in the new edition.

And remember:

CLASS is not about putting on a show for an observer.

It is about what children experience in your classroom every day.

The more naturally you build meaningful conversations, encourage thinking, respond to children's needs, extend vocabulary, provide feedback, and genuinely enjoy interacting with your students, the more prepared you will be—not only for CLASS, but for better teaching.

You don't prepare for CLASS by memorizing what to say. You prepare by making powerful teacher-child interactions part of your everyday classroom practice.

Want an Easier Way to Bring CLASS Into Your Everyday Teaching?

One of the things I hear from VPK and Pre-K teachers is:

“I understand what CLASS is looking for—but how do I actually incorporate these interactions into everything else I have to teach?”

I completely understand.

Teachers already have so much to manage: standards, curriculum, assessments, small groups, centers, lesson planning, classroom routines, and preparing children for Kindergarten. Adding CLASS expectations can sometimes feel like one more thing on an already very full plate.

That is one of the reasons I created my VPK/Pre-K Curriculum Pacing Guide.

The goal of the pacing guide is to help teachers know what to teach, when to teach it, and how to intentionally build stronger learning opportunities throughout the school year—while leaving room for the meaningful teacher-child interactions that CLASS is looking for.

Instead of thinking of CLASS as something separate that you have to “add” to your classroom, you can use your everyday literacy, math, STEM, social-emotional learning, centers, and small-group activities as opportunities to practice CLASS-aligned interactions.

For example, while teaching a math concept, you can ask children to explain their thinking.

-During a science activity, you can encourage children to predict, investigate, and problem-solve.

-During literacy, you can extend vocabulary and encourage longer conversations.

-During centers, you can follow children's ideas and use open-ended and follow-up questions to deepen their thinking.

And during social-emotional activities and everyday routines, you can intentionally build the warm, responsive relationships that are at the heart of high-quality teacher-child interactions.

CLASS Shouldn't Feel Like One More Subject to Teach

This is something I really want teachers to understand:

You don't need a separate “CLASS lesson.”

CLASS is about how you teach and interact with children while you are already teaching.

My Curriculum Pacing Guide was created to make the planning side easier so that teachers can spend less time wondering “What should I teach next?” and more time focusing on how they are interacting, questioning, responding, extending, and engaging with their students.

When you have a clear plan for your academic skills and learning objectives, it becomes much easier to intentionally layer CLASS strategies into those experiences.

My goal is to help teachers bring together:

Curriculum + Standards + Kindergarten Readiness + Meaningful CLASS Interactions

instead of feeling like they are four separate things competing for their attention.

A Simple Way to Think About It

Your pacing guide tells you WHAT to teach.

Your CLASS strategies strengthen HOW you teach it.

And together, they can help you create a classroom where children are not only learning the skills they need for Kindergarten, but are also thinking, talking, problem-solving, building relationships, and actively participating in their learning.

Need Help Planning Your VPK Year?

If you would like a more organized roadmap for your classroom, I created my VPK/Pre-K Math & Literacy Reinforcement Curriculum Guide – 10-Month Bundle to help make planning easier from August through May.

It provides teachers with a clear progression of skills and learning objectives so you can spend less time trying to figure out what comes next and more time creating meaningful interactions with your students.

👉 View My VPK/Pre-K 10-Month Curriculum Guide on Teachers Pay Teachers

And remember:

If you're preparing for a CLASS 2nd Edition observation, don't wait until observation week to start thinking about CLASS.

Make questioning, feedback, vocabulary extension, problem-solving, child-centered conversations, and positive interactions part of your classroom every day.

The goal isn't to put on a perfect lesson when the observer walks through the door.

The goal is for the observer to see the high-quality interactions your children experience every day.