USF St. Petersburg campus Faculty Publications
Standards-based teacher dispositions as a necessary and measurable construct.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2011
Abstract
Teacher dispositions comprise the affective dimension of teaching; they address teachers’ values and beliefs about the profession and about children. Definitions of teacher dispositions include both competency-based dispositions and morality-based definitions, with both conceptualizations debated. The possibility of measuring teacher dispositions well also has been the subject of debate. The international struggle to define teacher dispositions and measure them validly and reliably frames this study. We assert that dispositions can be measured, that it is important to do so, and that dispositions related to the skills of teaching (competencies) are critically important and should not be omitted from the teacher assessment process. Teachers can have the standards-based skills (competencies) to teach, as measured by teacher educators, without the will (dispositions) to apply those skills for the benefit of children’s learning in the K-12 classroom. The international literature focuses on one standard set -- diversity, multiculturalism, and social justice. We summarize the literature and demonstrate that teacher dispositions, including diversity, can be validly and reliably measured, presenting early evidence that dispositions impact K-12 student learning.
Language
en_US
Publisher
Time Taylor International
Recommended Citation
Wilkerson, J.R. & Lang, W.S. (2011). Standards-based teacher dispositions as a necessary and measurable construct. The International Journal of Educational and Psychological Assessment, 7(2), 34-55.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Comments
Abstract only. Full-text article is available only through licensed access provided by the publisher. Published in The International Journal of Educational and Psychological Assessment, 7(2), 34-55. Full text document is available through the link provided.