RISE Working Paper 16/009 - Measures of effective teaching in developing countries

This paper exploits an ongoing research programme that used the CLASS instrument to assess 7th grade mathematics classrooms in Chile

Abstract

There is growing interest in observing teacher’s classroom practice, for formative feedback to teachers, teacher performance evaluation and incentives, programme impact evaluation, and research on the determinants of student learning. For observations to generate meaningful data, they must be carried out using valid instruments, standardised protocols, and trained observers. A number of different observation instruments have been used in the US, but only two have gained any traction to date in developing countries – the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) and the Stallings classroom observation instrument. Although both have been validated in developing countries in connection with student learning outcomes, they have never been used in the same setting.

This paper exploits an ongoing research programme that used the CLASS instrument to assess 7th grade mathematics classrooms in Chile. In this research we re-code the same teacher videos using the Stallings instrument. We generate the first global evidence on the comparability and validity of the dimensions of teacher practice they measure. Because CLASS is significantly more expensive and complex to use – its training materials are proprietary and observers require a high degree of skill – there is a policy and research interest in analysing the degree to which the simpler, open-source, Stallings instrument produces similar results.

This paper was funded under the Research on Improving Systems of Education (RISE) Programme

Citation

Bruns, B.; De Gregario, S.; Taut, S. (2016). RISE Working Paper 16/009 - Measures of effective teaching in developing countries.Research on Improving Systems of Education (RISE).

RISE Working Paper 16/009 - Measures of effective teaching in developing countries

Published 1 September 2016