An Equity Perspective on Measurement Invariance and Profiles of Head Start Classroom Quality: Implications for school readiness, policy, and practice

Quality in early childhood education (ECE) is central to equitable child development and preparation for formal schooling and has been widely studied by researchers and of interest to policy makers. As the federal pre-k program, Head Start is a key ECE context to understand quality and its implications for equity. One central measure of classroom quality, the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS), is used in policy-making and funding decisions to study the impact of quality on children’s school readiness. The CLASS is a measure of teacher-child interactional quality, but measurement invariance across teacher race/ethnicity has yet to be examined for this measure in the published literature. Additionally, patterns of classroom quality and the sociocultural context of classrooms as predictors of children’s social skills and approaches to learning have yet to be examined. Using anti-racist early childhood education theory and a nationally representative Head Start sample, the Family and Child Experiences Survey 2009 cohort, I conducted two studies to address these gaps. In the first study, I investigated the measurement invariance of the CLASS across teacher race/ethnicity (Black, Latine, White). I found evidence of partial strong invariance, with only one non invariant parameter for Black teachers, suggesting that means may be compared across teacher race/ethnicity. However, the implications of these findings must be interpreted through an equity lens, and quality measures should work to include equity indicators explicitly. In the second study, I examined patterns of classroom quality indicated by the CLASS and 1) dual language learner (DLL) composition and 2) in combination with child demographics and teacher-child demographic match as predictors of school readiness outcomes. I found evidence of three profiles of classroom quality and DLL composition did not significantly predict profile membership. Further the profile with higher levels of negative climate and moderate emotional support and classroom organization negatively predicted child social skills and approaches to learning. Applying anti-racist ECE theory studies suggest that the CLASS does not sufficiently address equity in ECE, but may be used with Black, Latine, and White teachers and low quality should be addressed through intervention to prevent negative outcomes for children.