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Beginning Teacher Knowledge of Education in the Elementary School: A Survey of California Educators

Author(s):
Reynolds, Anne; Rosenfeld, Michael
Publication Year:
1992
Report Number:
RR-92-70
Source:
ETS Research Report
Document Type:
Report
Page Count:
64
Subject/Key Words:
Beginning Teachers, California, Elementary Schools, Job Analysis, Praxis Series, Surveys, Teacher Qualifications, Test Validity

Abstract

An inventory of knowledge elementary school teachers need to teach the elementary school curriculum was constructed through an iterative process by a national group of teachers, teacher educators and administrators familiar with elementary school teaching. The knowledge inventory was then sent in survey form to 499 teachers and 247 teacher educators in California who were asked to rate the individual knowledge statements using a 5-point importance scale. A cutpoint of 2.50 (midway between moderately important and important) was set to identify important knowledge from unimportant knowledge for purposes of test development. Forty-two knowledge statements were rated below the 2.50 cutpoint; 103 (71%) knowledge statements were above the cutpoint. Correlations for relevant subgroups were .91 and above, which suggests substantial agreement with respect to the relative importance of the knowledge areas. The results also indicate that all of the domains were either adequately or well covered by the specific knowledge statements and all of the knowledge domains were judged to be important. Finally, suggestions were offered regarding the relative weights each domain should receive in the test specifications. The bulk of the report is presented in six appendices which describe the participants, materials, and results from the job analysis inventory. (JGL) (64pp.)

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