Exploring Elements of Responsive Instruction in Preservice Teachers' Classrooms Through a Structural Equation Modeling Framework

• In Event: Preparing Culturally Responsive Teachers for Equity-Oriented Classrooms: How Do We Evaluate Their Effectiveness and Our Own?

Abstract

Study Objectives

Using secondary data from a multi-site teacher preparation program, we examine elements of a responsive instructional community with the aim of understanding how this construct manifests in pre-service teachers’ (PSTs) classrooms, interacts with other measures of instructional quality and ultimately translates into student outcomes.

Theoretical Framework
Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT), born out of Ladson-Billings’ (1995) culturally-relevant teaching framework, affirms the value of students’ lived experiences and acknowledges experiences shape not only what students know, but how they make meaning and learn (Howard, 2012; Gay, 2000). CRT is characterized by teachers who cultivate positive learning communities where all students feel valued, respected and safe and implement strategies that connect students’ personal and academic lives (Brown, 2007).

Grounded in a structural equation modeling (SEM) framework (Kline, 2015), our conceptual model (Figure 1) proposes a responsive community (RC) construct represented by five indicators of responsive instruction. The model demonstrates our goal of understanding how these indicators form a general RC construct, and how RC interacts with other instructional quality measures (e.g. classroom observations and principal ratings). RC is conceptualized as one aspect of instruction covarying with other instructional quality measures. We hypothesize that these instructional dimensions have unique and combined effects on student outcomes.

[ --Figure 2--]

Research Methods – Data Sources and Analytic Approach

Data come from 532 PSTs and their students across three training sites across the U.S. Data collection tools include classroom observation rubrics, principal summative ratings, and student surveys.

Using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and SEM, we examine the intercorrelations between RC indicators and the extent to which they combine into one RC factor. This allows us to examine the relationship between RC and instructional quality as measured by four competencies from the TNTP Core Rubric and the TNTP-created principal ratings tool. SEM also allows the simultaneous modeling of the relationship between the RC, instructional quality, and the student survey measure.
Results
The five RC indicators are statistically related to one another (.33 ≥ r ≤ .65; p ≤.000) and have a high internal consistency (α=.81) when combined to create one scale. Furthermore, results from the EFA support combining these indicators into one RC construct. When the indicators were averaged to create one RC score, that score was significantly related to each competency from TNTP Core (.41 ≤ r ≥ .57, p <.001). The RC score was also related to principal ratings (r = .38, p <.001) and student survey scores (r = .30, p <.01). Subsequent analysis includes the simultaneous modeling of all relationships between the study constructs and includes data from the current cohort of PSTs.
Significance of Study
This study expands the literature on responsive instruction by examining the relationship between its specific elements, their relationship to other instructional quality measures, and how these practices translate to student outcomes. Furthermore, by investigating these relationships in PST classrooms, study findings can help teacher preparation programs leverage the significant role these “soft” skills play in developing first year PSTs’ professional practice.

Authors

• Genine Lorraine Blue, TNTP

• Victoria Brady, TNTP

• Christine DiStefano, University of South Carolina

• Kimberlee Logan, TNTP Teaching Fellows