Teacher dispositions: Moving from assessment to improvement.

Teacher dispositions include the values, attitudes, and beliefs about children, subject matter, and the skills of teaching that cause teachers to act in positive or negative ways. A mixed methods approach was used to assess the dispositions of 40 early childhood pre-service teachers‟ using four instruments from the DAATS (Dispositions Assessments Aligned with Teacher Standards) battery of assessments (Wilkerson & Lang, 2006). The construct is defined operationally through the U.S. national pre-service teaching standards, called the Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (INTASC) Principles (Council of Chief State School Officers, 1992). Rating scales were derived using the Bloom and Krathwohl (1956) affective taxonomy, and scores are reported as Rasch measures. The research includes quantitative and qualitative analysis of two case studies (one excellent and one needing improvement) and an analysis of four INTASC Principles targeted for program improvement. The results indicate the potential for systematic objective measurement of teacher dispositions combined with qualitative data analysis techniques (case study methodology) to inform and improve practice. Future research is suggested on the relationship of teacher affect and teacher effectiveness, the extent to which faculty teaching and counseling improves dispositions, and the extent to which teachers with negative dispositions inhibit children’s achievement.