Observing effective classroom management in early instruction in primary school: rating instrument construction and its link to teacher knowledge

Abstract

This study presents a novel standardized rating instrument for observing and measuring effective classroom management (ECM) as part of the teaching and learning environments in primary school. The instrument comprises eight high-inferent items on organizational aspects (lack of disruptions/discipline problems, withitness, effective time use, clear rules, clear routines, appreciation) and instructional aspects (structuring, goal clarity). It was applied in second grade classrooms of German primary school teachers (n = 35) providing early reading and writing instruction. Pairs of trained raters (student teachers) observed one to three lessons in each classroom over 3–4 months, reaching acceptable interrater agreement. The instrument showed acceptable internal consistency. Factor analyses revealed structures with good to acceptable fit indices, with confirming the differentiation into organizational and instructional ECM aspects. Correlations between observed ECM and facets of teacher knowledge (that were directly assessed by using paper–pencil tests) provide divergent and convergent validity evidence: Whereas no significant correlations could be found between pedagogical content knowledge for early reading and writing instruction and ECM, findings show significant correlations between general pedagogical knowledge and the ECM. The added value of the study is therefore to provide a novel instrument that can be applied in future empirical research on primary school classroom management.