This study attempted to construct an instrument--the Poetry Methods Rating Scale (PMRS)--for assessing 10th-grade teachers' opinions of poetry teaching methods and to validate it by comparing the scores on the PMRS to the teachers' attitudes, personality, performance, and success in the classroom. The PMRS (a 38-item, seven category equal-appearing interval scale) and three other tests were administered to 39 teachers; 25 of these were randomly selected to teach three poems to one class in any way they wished and to administer an objective test on those poems; the remaining 14 teachers, the control group, gave the poetry test to their students without teaching. Three evaluators' ratings of the teachers' tape-recorded lessons, student poetry-test scores, and anonymous student evaluations provided criterion validity for the PMRS. Reliability of the PMRS was established by a test-retest procedure administered to the 39 teachers after completion of testing and to an additional 93 secondary English teachers. Results showed that although the PMRS is a reliable instrument in assessing opinions of poetry teaching methods, the scale's validity is tenuous. Trends in the data indicated, however, that significant correlations would result with larger samples. (Author/JM)