Is validation always valid? Cross cultural complexities of standard-based instruments migrating out of their context. A Study on CLASS Pre-K in Italy (3-6 ECEC services).

This presentation is based on first results from an on-going study aimed at discussing the cultural complexities of a cross-cultural use of standardized instruments, specifically Classroom-Assessment-Scoring-System (CLASS, Pianta et al.,2008). The CLASS is an assessment system with a strong theoretical and empirical background, widely used to evaluate quality and efficacy of teacher-child relationship. CLASS validity is highly established in the US and several studies have investigated its psychometric properties in different cultural contexts (Pakarainen et al.,2010;Cadima et al.,2013; Trevino et al.,2013). These studies suggest that cultural differences could affect its three-domain factorial structure, but they don’t discuss and examine in a critical cultural-sensitive way meanings, dimensions and indicators of ‘effective’ teacher-child relationships, as defined by CLASS. The main purpose of the study is to contribute to address this gap focusing specifically on CLASS Pre-K. The theoretical framework draws on the field of cross-cultural research and validation methodology. We adopted a qualitative research design and collected our data through video-observations, focus-group interviews and reflective discussions with Italian preschool teachers. All participants in this research were fully informed of the research project. Teachers gave their informed consent. Data collection and data analysis is still on-going. Tentative findings suggest that teachers consider the CLASS an interesting tool, although not free from cultural influences. This study may offer a valuable opportunity to reflect on the cultural characteristics of the CLASS and of a validation and adaptation process in a cultural context (Italy) different from the original one.