Designing a Low-Inference Measure to Capture High-Quality Language and Literacy Instruction in Early Childhood

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 1:45 pm - Gold 2
  In Roundtable Session: Advancing the Measurement of Teaching: Innovations in Observation and Evaluation

Abstract

This study presents the development and adaptation of a low-inference observational tool to assess language and literacy instructional practices in early childhood classrooms. Grounded in Michigan’s Essential Instructional Practices for Early Literacy, the tool captures observable, content-rich teaching, aligned with children’s language and literacy development. Using video data from 21 classrooms serving children from birth to PreK, we document the tool’s design, item development, inter-rater reliability, and sensitivity to variation in implementation conditions. Findings show the tool reliably distinguishes between coached and uncoached classrooms, with variation in both frequency and quality of instructional practices. This work advances the field’s capacity to support continuous quality improvement by offering a scalable, practice-sensitive measurement approach for instructional feedback and research.

Authors

• Paola Andrea Guerrero-Rosada, University of California - Irvine

• Inez Montserrat Medina Caro, University of California - Irvine

• Tomoko Wakabayashi, Oakland University

• Melissa A. Bishop, Oakland University