Development and validation of a preschool teachers’ attitudes and beliefs toward science teaching questionnaire

► Developed questionnaire of preschool teacher attitudes and beliefs toward science teaching. ► Identified two valid and reliable factors: “teacher comfort” and “benefit for children”. ► Preliminary evidence for questionnaire's concurrent validity was substantiated. ► Factors demonstrated adequ...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Early childhood research quarterly 2013, Vol.28 (2), p.366-378
Main Authors: Maier, Michelle F., Greenfield, Daryl B., Bulotsky-Shearer, Rebecca J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attitudes
Beliefs
Child benefit
Disadvantaged Youth
Factor Structure
Generalizability
Head start
Measurement Techniques
Preschool
Preschool Teachers
Preschools
Rating Scales
Science
Teachers
Teaching
Teaching Experience
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:► Developed questionnaire of preschool teacher attitudes and beliefs toward science teaching. ► Identified two valid and reliable factors: “teacher comfort” and “benefit for children”. ► Preliminary evidence for questionnaire's concurrent validity was substantiated. ► Factors demonstrated adequate internal consistency; invariance across subgroups. Little is known about preschool teachers’ attitudes and beliefs toward science teaching, in part, because the field lacks valid and reliable measures of these teacher-related factors. To address this need, the current study developed and validated a rating scale (P-TABS) using a statewide sample of Head Start teachers (N=507). A series of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted. Generalizability and invariance of the final factor solution was examined across important subgroups of the standardization sample (i.e., teacher ethnicity, education level, and years of teaching experience). Three distinct factors were identified (Teacher Comfort, Child Benefit, and Challenges), with strong evidence for validity found for the first two factors. The P-TABS expands the availability of reliable and valid assessment tools for measuring preschool teachers’ attitudes and beliefs toward science teaching and for examining how these teacher-related factors affect classroom practices and student outcomes.
ISSN:0885-2006
1873-7706
DOI:10.1016/j.ecresq.2012.09.003