Measuring Changes in Teachers' Perceived Cultural Competence and Actual Competence Using the Intercultural Development Inventory

• In Event: Roundtable Session 8
  In Roundtable Session: Multicultural Teacher Education

Abstract

This paper discusses the pilot efforts of a university-local school system partnership in addressing the academic and professional development needs of in-service teachers at three urban, public schools that educate large numbers of students of color. Using a quasi-experimental pretest/posttest research design, the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) was used to measure teachers’ intercultural competence before and after participating in a 9-credit graduate certificate program, focused on equity and cultural proficiency. Additionally, the IDI was used to measure the discrepancy (orientation gap) between how culturally competent teachers perceived themselves to be, and how culturally competent they actually were as measured by the IDI. The results indicated that after completing the certificate program, teachers’ cultural competence increased and their orientation gaps decreased.

Authors

• Stephanie L Savick, Notre Dame of Maryland University

• Candice Logan-Washington, Baltimore County Public Schools