The Development and Validation of Instruments Used to Measure Teachers’ Science Knowledge and Teaching Practices in a Professional Development Project

• In Event: Evaluation of Teacher Professional Development

Abstract

Using data collected from two large scale projects, we describe the development and validation of multiple measures of elementary science teachers’ knowledge and practices. The study examines five scales developed to measure teachers’ science content knowledge and the use of reform-oriented teaching practices. These were measured using three instruments: a teacher survey, a science knowledge test, and observations. Data from Project 1 were analyzed with respect to psychometric properties using Rasch measurement methodology, after conducting confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to test the assumptions of the models. The measures were revised for Project 2 based on analyses and feedback from teachers. We believe that other researchers may be able to use these measures or at least learn from the development process.

Authors

• Jaime Maerten-Rivera, University of Miami

• Karen H. Adamson, University of Miami

• Anne Corinne Huggins-Manley, University of Florida

• Okhee Lee, New York University

• Lorena Llosa, New York University

• Feng Jiang, New York University

• Rose Rohrer