Observer documentation of instructional practices and the complex discourse that occurs in secondary chemistry classrooms is very challenging. One solution has been to create observation protocols framed around research-based teaching practices, such as the Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP) (Sawada et al., 2002). Over the past decade a number of such protocols have been developed for science instruction; however, no chemistry-specific instrument has been created. As such, the goal of this project was to design and test an observation rubric that meets the unique needs of evaluating chemistry instruction and discourse in secondary classrooms. This rubric was devised to serve as a chemistry-specific addendum to an established K-12 mathematics and science observation protocol called the Electronic Quality of Inquiry Protocol (EQUIP) (Marshall, 2009). Our rubric shows promise as a tool for researchers characterizing and evaluating the quality of chemistry instruction in secondary classrooms. Practitioners may also benefit from the rubric since it characterizes discipline-specific features of quality chemistry instruction. The observation rubric has been tested for validity and inter-rater agreement in the research context of evaluating the baseline instruction of teachers in a long-term professional development program. The design process for the rubric and results of its implementation will be presented.

Sharpening our focus: Improving the measurement of secondary chemistry instruction with observation protocols

247th National Meeting (2014)

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