Identifier

etd-07072005-001118

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Education

Document Type

Dissertation

Abstract

This study examined the psychometric properties of a revised measurement, the Teacher Beliefs and Practices Survey, devised for teachers of 3- to 5-year-old children. The measure was designed to reflect the concepts of DAP (developmentally appropriate practices) as presented in the revised 1997 NAEYC guidelines and consisted of 2 scales. Three hundred seventy five surveys completed by public kindergarten teachers in Southeast Louisiana were utilized in the study. Reliability was examined using internal consistency method. Cronbach¡¯s ¥á was .858 for the Beliefs Scale and .787 for the Instructional Activities Scale. Validity of the measure was examined in its content, criterion, and construct (Carmines & Zeller, 1979). Content validity was enhanced by reflecting the feedback from the nationwide experts in early childhood education on the survey before administering the measure to the targeted teachers. Criterion-related validity was supported when the findings showed that one of the sub-measures, the measure of the developmentally inappropriate practices, showed a high correlation with the score from the observed classroom practices. The following results support construct validity: first, the factors uncovered in the survey matched the important concepts of DAP in the guidelines; second, predictors of DAP found to be significant from previous studies were also significant in both of the subscales; third, the low but significant correlation between the Teacher Beliefs and Practices Survey score and a theoretically related measure, the Teacher Educational Attitude Scale (Rescorla et al., 1990) was found. Considering the psychometric properties, the Teacher Beliefs and Practices Survey appears to be a promising measure for critically examining teachers¡¯ beliefs about and practices of DAP.

Date

2005

Document Availability at the Time of Submission

Release the entire work immediately for access worldwide.

Committee Chair

Teresa Buchanan

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_dissertations.3006

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