Factors Related to Pupil Observation Reports of Teachers and Attitudes Toward their Teacher

Abstract

Perceptions of 4,368 pupils of the teacher behavior characteristics of 180 secondary teachers as measured by the Pupil Observation Report (POSR) and Scale for Measuring Attitudes Toward Any Teacher (SMAT) were analyzed by pupil characteristics: sex, age, grade, course mark, ability group; and teacher characteristics: age, certificate, sex, field of teaching, and years of teaching experience. Among numerous significant differences were the consistent patterns of higher course marks with more favorable pupil perceptions. High ability groups had more favorable perceptions. Science teachers consistently received the lowest ratings, and teachers with the least and the most experience were perceived more favorably except for Factors II and III. Teachers above the age of 35 received lower ratings than those below 35. Among significant interactions were pupil sex and pupil age, in which, except for 19-year olds, the older groups rated teachers higher. In three of five POSR factors, boys had more favorable opinions of men teachers, whereas girls favored women teachers. Girls favored social studies teachers, whereas boys had more favorable perceptions of science and mathematics teachers. A CONSIDERABLE body of published re search has pertained to student ratings of teachers. The pros and cons of student ratings have been argued over the past 40 years. Critics of the use of student ratings have pointed to the incompetence of the student as a judge of teach ing ability, emphasizing his lack of experience and difficulty of reporting objective judgments. Pro ponents have held that effective learning results from the interaction of student and teacher and that however biased ratings may be, they are valuable as a source of information concerning student reactions to the behavior of teachers. A major portion of the research in this area was conducted by Remmers and Bryan, strong advocates of student evaluation as a means of self-improvement for teachers. Research conclu sions pertinent to the present study may be briefly summarized as follows: