In March 2026, LACOE marked a major milestone, delivering the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) Interaction Essentials for Educators training series in Korean. Twenty-two Korean-speaking early educators from across L.A. County participated in a series of six weekly two-hour interactive virtual sessions focused on improving interactions between adults and children in preschool environments.

Launch of Korean-English Training Series

CLASS is an observation tool that measures the quality of educator–child interactions. While its use is required for both Head Start and California State Preschool Program providers, trainings are typically available only in English and Spanish. Seeing a need to reach providers in Korean-speaking communities, LACOE, through its Quality Start Los Angeles (QSLA) team, answered the call.

“Building this series felt natural because it started with real relationships with Korean-speaking educators who were eager to grow but hadn't had access to this training in their language,” said Yeji Lee, Head Start program assessment consultant and CLASS Interaction Essentials for Educators trainer. “Once we heard that need, there was no question. We moved forward. Every child deserves a highly skilled educator, and every educator deserves the tools and support to get there, in the language that lets them learn best.”

Reflecting LACOE’s commitment to partnering with parents, caregivers, educators and community agencies to ensure every child has access to high-quality early learning and whole-family support, this training series also embodies QSLA’s promise to empower early learning providers to build upon and improve the quality of care they provide to children ages birth to five. 

Participants Share Positive Feedback

Response from participants in this first series was overwhelmingly positive, with overall satisfaction averaging 4.76 out of 5 in a post-session survey conducted in late April. Comments received from participants reflected both appreciation and an eagerness to implement lessons learned:

• “The biggest takeaway for me was the practical ideas for fostering broader conversations with children. I look forward to implementing these strategies right away.”

• “The two-hour time felt very short—the content was so rich and engaging.”

• “It would be wonderful if this Korean-language CLASS training could be offered every year.”

Plans are already underway for a second series, given the positive feedback and high level of interest in the first series, where participation had to be capped at 22 to ensure engaging small-group interactions, despite 47 educators registering.

“Healthy, engaging, nurturing relationships with caregivers and educators in the formative years of rapid brain development help set the foundation for a lifetime of learning, exploration and growth,” said Luis Bautista, LACOE Head Start and Early Learning Division executive director. “I’m so proud of our QSLA team for identifying and addressing the need to overcome this language barrier and empower dedicated early educators with tools to support the children in their care.”

Alongside LACOE, the QSLA Consortium also includes First 5 LA, Child Care Alliance of Los Angeles, Office for the Advancement of Early Care and Education, PEACH (an Early Childhood Higher Education Collaborative) and the Child Care Planning Committee. In 2025, QSLA celebrated ten years of empowering early educators and enhancing early learning countywide.

For more about LACOE’s Head Start and Early Learning Division, please visit prekkid.org.

For more about QSLA, please visit qualitystartla.org.