Classroom Environment Quality

Trained observers assessed each apprentice in the classroom at the beginning and end of the school year. Classrooms with an EEAP apprentice generally showed strong growth in classroom practices, as measured by the BPOT and CLASS™ tools.44 Twenty-two of the 24 classrooms with apprentices showed improvement in teaching best practices over the course of the school year (Figure 24).

CLASS™ assessments involving apprentice preschool classrooms showed strong quality at both beginning and end of year in most domains. As with the Camp Fire School Readiness Program, Camp Fire expected to see increased CLASS™ scores at end of year within classrooms hosting EEAP apprentices, with scores of 3.0 or higher in toddler and preschool classrooms; this goal was met. Camp Fire also expected to see CLASS™ quality thresholds met in preschool classrooms but achieved the goal only for classroom organization (Figure 25).

Meeting quality thresholds within preschool classrooms that included an apprentice proved to be challenging in 2021-2022. Two-thirds of classrooms met the quality threshold for classroom organization, and less than half met the quality threshold for emotional support (22%) and instructional support (33%) at year’s end (Figure 26). One limitation to comparing beginning to end of year outcomes arises with ongoing staffing adjustments, as CLASS™ is administered by classroom, and non-apprentice teachers in the classroom may change over time and can impact the classroom score.

44 For more information about BPOT, see Appendix C. For more information about CLASS™, see https://teachstone.com/class/.