Content Validation of Teacher Subject Matter Test Ratings of Knowledge and Skill Statements by Teachers vs Teacher-Trainers

Abstract

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.