Danielson CLASS (Classroom Assessment Scoring System) Crosswalk

Developed by Teachstone

The Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) is an observation instrument that measures the effectiveness of teacher-student interactions. It focuses on interactions that promote academic learning, engagement, and social development.

Charlotte Danielson’s Framework for Teaching is a set of instructional components based in a constructivist view of learning and teaching. The Framework’s four domains are Planning and Preparation, Classroom Environment, Instruction, and Professional Responsibilities. Danielson’s work is closely associated with the edTPA (Teacher Performance Assessment) developed by Stanford University.

The following two charts show the relationships between Danielson’s Framework for Teaching (at the component level) and The Classroom Assessment Scoring System (at the dimension level). It is important to note that:

Both of these systems include much more detailed descriptions of teacher behaviors and samples of evidence than are represented here.
CLASS is an observational measure of the interactions between teachers and students. It does not directly measure the way teachers design materials or activities, including assessments. By focusing on the degree to which students are engaged in their work, the level of their thinking, and the quality of feedback provided by the teacher, the CLASS measures the impact of materials, lessons, and assessment design.
Indicators in Danielson’s Domain 4 (Professional Responsibilities), typically observed outside the context of teacher-student interactions, are not measured directly by CLASS and are not shown on the crosswalks. Danielson’s Indicators 4a and 4e (Reflecting on Teaching, Growing and Developing Professionally) are the focus of Teachstone’s MyTeachingPartner coaching process and other CLASS-based professional development processes.

Class 3 class 4

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