This study aims to highlight the methodology used to improve a validated teacher observation instrument appropriate for use with pre-service teachers in educator preparation programs. The teacher preparation program described in this paper is part of State University (SU)(pseudonym)in the eastern United States. In response to accreditation requirements, Covid-19 impacts on conducting classroom observations, and the teacher preparation program’s ardent desire to better support clinical students, the Classroom Observation rubric (COR) was improved using Rasch analysis (n=504). The COR contains 15 items organized into 4 constructs: Classroom Environment, Pedagogical Knowledge, Assessment, and Content Area Knowledge. The COR was examined to determine if the reliability and validity could be improved from the previous iteration of the instrument. After changes were made, the COR’s item fit improved with all MNSQ values fitting the acceptable range while there were only a few items with ZSTD values that exceeded 2. The Rasch reliability coefficient for the real measure for items increased from .89 to .98; there was also an increase in the item separation value from 2.87 to 6.79 which confirms the item difficulty hierarchy. Although the previous version of the COR showed gender bias, it was resolved in this new iteration of the instrument. The new iteration of the COR instrument was shown to be unidimensional with the average measures for each category functioning as expected. This study shares this instrument development and clinical program improvements that other educator preparation programs can employ.

Authors:
Michelle Eades-Baird, Empire State University, United States
Tina Wagle, Empire State University, United States
Blair Izard, Empire State University, United States

About the Presenter(s)
Dr Michelle Eades-Baird is a University Assistant Professor/Lecturer at Empire State University in United States

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