ERIC Number: ED365714
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1993-Nov
Pages: 26
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Measuring Teacher Attitude toward Low Achievers in Mathematics.
Dwyer, Evelyn E.
The purpose of this study was to provide teachers, supervisors, and school administrators with a valid scale for measuring teacher attitudes toward low achievers in mathematics: the Teacher Attitudes Toward Low Achievement in Mathematics Scale (TALAM). The development of the instrument was carried out in three phases. Phase 1 consisted of selecting an instrument type and preparing possible scale items. A modified Likert-type scale was prepared with input from the literature and content experts. The 85 items developed were placed in subscales for beliefs, feelings, and intended behaviors. In phase 2, the preliminary scale was administered to 51 middle school mathematics teachers. Item analysis resulted in the retention of 45 items for the final scale, the TALAM. In phase 3, the instrument was administered to 105 middle school mathematics teachers in conjunction with two other measures of teacher attitudes. The TALAM was found to be a reliable and valid measure of teacher beliefs, feelings, and intended behaviors. Findings that most teachers have moderately positive attitudes toward low achievers in mathematics are consistent with expectations based on the literature. Four tables present study findings. Appendix A contains the TALAM and scoring directions. (Contains 40 references.) (SLD)
Descriptors: Affective Measures, Attitude Measures, Beliefs, Content Validity, Elementary School Teachers, Intermediate Grades, Junior High Schools, Likert Scales, Low Achievement, Mathematics Achievement, Middle School Students, Middle Schools, Research Design, Secondary School Teachers, Student Evaluation, Teacher Attitudes, Teacher Influence, Test Construction, Test Items, Test Reliability, Test Validity
Publication Type: Reports - Research; Speeches/Meeting Papers; Tests/Questionnaires
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Note: Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Mid-South Educational Research Association (22nd, New Orleans, LA, November 10-12, 1993).