As part of a job analysis of teaching conducted for the validation of a battery of initial certification subject area tests, 320 practicing Florida elementary teachers rated statements of teacher knowledge and skill for their importance in certification. A factor analysis of these ratings revealed a correlated configuration of factors: general knowledge and skills of teaching; subject-specific knowledge; theory of curriculum, pedagogy, and psychology; applied educational diagnosis and the maximization of achievement; and the professionalism of teaching. The factor structure obtained from the teachers' ratings was conceptually similar to the test blueprint produced by the examination development committee.
An investigation was conducted of differences between ratings provided by Florida practicing public school teachers and teacher trainers on knowledge and skill statements used in the development of teacher subject matter knowledge tests for initial teacher certification in the fields of (a) elementary education, (b) English,(c) gifted, and (d) specific learning disability. Respondents rated each statement on 5-point Likert scales on three dimensions: (a) job relatedness, (b) frequency of use, and (c) importance for initial certification. Surveys for each of the four fields were sent to Florida practicing teachers and to teacher training faculty. A two-stage cluster PPS sampling yielded eight response rates which ranged from 41% to 63% across the four fields. Statistically significant differences on 29 of the 60 factor comparisons were obtained between the two major group of raters (teachers vs teacher-trainers). Generally, teacher trainers registered higher ratings than did practicing teachers on all variables, especially in English.
This description indicates five components to be considered in identifying master teachers: expert pedagogy, test demonstrated subject matter mastery, roles and duties, professional activities, demographic data, as well as students' achievement.
Of 671 teachers of Grades 4 to 6 in Florida 320 rated 118 statements of knowledge and skills on their importance for certification and also for career achievement. Of 45 statements rated differently the areas of curriculum and instruction, tests and measures, and professionalism were rated as more important for career achievement.
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