Assessing the Influence of Preparation on Preservice Teachers’ Awareness of Diversity: How Valid Are the Measures We Use?

• In Event: Roundtable Session 20
  In Roundtable Session: Designing Performance Assessment Tools in Teacher Education

Abstract

Questions exist regarding the validity of self report measures as an assessment of change in attitude and efficacy regarding diversity knowledge. This study examined an alternative method of measuring change in preservice teachers’ perceptions of learners in multicultural classrooms (real-time observational notes) and compared results to those of a self report measure, the Multicultural Efficacy Scale (MES). Participants were 49 preservice teachers assigned to 2 elementary education courses with aligned urban field experiences. Survey results indicated highly positive attitudes and strong positions of self-efficacy about working with diverse learners but participants’ observational notes about their urban students demonstrated minimal awareness of differences in culture and language and little attention to instructional strategies to address diversity.

Authors

• Susan F. Skawinski, Providence College

• Zachary S Rossetti, Boston University