Assessing Teacher Performance from Observed Competency Indicators Defined by Classroom Teachers

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Abstract
This study was concerned with the measurement of a set of indicators of teacher competence, defined by the teachers themselves as observable in their classroom behavior. The question it sought to answer was whether scoring keys for existing low-inference observation schedules could be developed that would measure any or all of these indicators objectively and reliably. Multiple observations were made with four such instruments in 100 classrooms in a single rural school system to provide data relevant to the question. Forty-two scoring keys were developed to measure one or another of 26 indicators identified by the teachers and used to score the records made in the 100 classrooms. An analysis of variance was made of the scores on each key to estimate its reliability and to isolate and assess errors of measurement due to lack of internal consistency and to instability confounded with observer disagreement. It was concluded that keys could be constructed to yield stable and consistent measures of most indicators of competency from records made on at least one of the low-inference observation schedules used, even though they had been designed to measure other variables, but that some efforts to refine the keys, either by empirical analysis or by having the composition of the keys verified by the teachers who defined the indicators, was necessary to ensure that the scores obtained would reflect them accurately.

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