Climate of Healthy Interactions for Learning and Development (CHILD)

NOTE: The CHILD is currently unavailable to the public for purchase; it can only be accessed and used by a trained and reliable Program Quality Assessment (PQA) CHILD Assessor (hereinto referred to as “Assessor”). Although the CHILD is being used for internal assessment, it will be conducted as an external assessment by an Assessor.

Requesting an external assessment (for internal assessment):

Please contact your Quality Coach regarding your interest in a CHILD assessment for internal assessment purposes. Your coach will inform the Program Quality Assessment team who will assign an Assessor to schedule the CHILD observation for your program.

CHILD assessment at-a-glance

• Approximately two hours are needed to complete (four coding blocks of 20 minutes each, with 5-10 minutes between coding blocks for scoring)
• No teacher interview
• No documents needed from the program as source of evidence for scoring
• Assessment based on observation only
• May include all classroom activities including outdoor play and meals
• Must observe some unstructured activities

Required materials

The Assessor will provide the CHILD Observer Manual for conducting the assessment. The program is not expected to purchase any CHILD related materials for this internal assessment process.

Supplemental materials

• CHILD Practitioner’s Guide: The Assessor will share information about using the CHILD Practitioner’s Guide to support ongoing quality improvement work. If the program is interested in this additional support, it will be provided free of charge to the program.

Purchase the materials

The program is not expected to purchase any of the CHILD assessment related materials.

The external assessment process expectations and information for the program

1. Learn About the CHILD

• It is recommended that the teaching team from each assessed classroom and the internal assessment team become familiar with the CHILD’s expectations.
• Register for the online self-paced PA Foundations of the Climate of Healthy Interactions for Learning and Development (CHILD) course on the Professional Development (PD) Registry (papdregistry.org) (available sometime in 2024/2025).
• Request a Facilitated Program Observation Instrument Orientation (FPO).This one-hour session with an Assessor provides an opportunity to learn basic information about the CHILD and ask specific questions. The FPO is structured to meet each individual’s or program’s specific needs, and each person attending receives one hour of PQAS credit.  Please note the FPO is not a substitute for the online self-paced PA Foundations of the Climate of Healthy Interactions for Learning and Development (CHILD) course, but rather provides a basic overview.
• An overview of the CHILD can also be found at socialemotionalchild.org.

2. When to conduct the CHILD observation

• The assessment is conducted when the majority of the children have arrived and during an active time of the day. Some unstructured activities must be observed, and the assessment may include all classroom activities, outdoor play, transitions, and
• The chosen classroom should maintain a typical schedule (as much as possible) for the entire observation.
• It may be helpful to tell the children that a guest will be visiting their classroom for a special project. They will watch them play and do their work but will not be able to play with them while doing their work.

3. What to expect during the external assessment

• There will be four 20-minute coding blocks of observation. After each coding block is completed, the Assessor will leave the classroom, when possible, for approximately 5-10 minutes to score the coding block.
• The full observation will take approximately two hours to complete.
• Upon completion of the assessment, the Assessor may immediately share some highlights from the observation and will provide a CHILD Observation Feedback and Self-Reflection Report within a week.

4. Review the findings included in the CHILD Observation Feedback and Self-Reflection Report

• Conducting a CHILD assessment is only the first step of the process toward growth. Review the assessment results with those people responsible for implementing changes.
• Review the assessment findings with your Internal Assessment Team, Quality Coach and Assessor. They can celebrate successes with you and work with you to determine where growth might occur.
  • For programs using the CHILD Practitioner’s Guide: Appendix C in the Practitioner’s Guide includes Planning Guides for each dimension to help you as you create your CQI plan.
  • Use the CHILD Practitioner’s Guide to support your CQI work. You can use only those parts of the Practitioner’s Guide that are applicable to your identified areas for growth; it is not intended to be read front to back.

Next steps

• Assure everyone has contributed ideas and ensure everyone knows the next steps to take toward improvement.
• Identify goals to achieve growth and include them in your Continuous Quality Improvement Plan (CQI).
• When planning for CQI goals, look toward implementing the next level’s indicators. Incorporate your goals into your CQI plan.
• Start Focus on one attribute at a time.
• Be Change takes time. Do not be discouraged if your initial scores do not meet your expectations. Growth takes time.
• Change what you can and accept those things that are outside of your program’s ability to improve.
• Share your plan for growth/CQI plan with everyone involved on your team.
• Plan to revisit your goals and program’s administrative practices regularly to assess and update as goals are achieved. The CQI process is cyclical as you continuously reflect on your practices and your drive for growth.