Defining and Measuring Educator Dispositions M' Mark Wasicsko, Ph'D' Bank of Kentucky Endowed Chair

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Defining and Measuring Educator Dispositions
M. Mark Wasicsko, Ph.D.Bank of Kentucky Endowed
ChairCollege of Education and Human
ServicesNorthern Kentucky Universitywasicskom1_at_
nku.edu

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Introduction

• Dispositions are in as exhibited by their
  inclusion in the National Council for the
  Accreditation of Teacher Educators (NCATE) 2000
  Standards as well as the National Board for
  Professional Teaching Standards (1998).
• Institutions and School Districts are grappling
  with the need to integrate dispositions into
  their conceptual frameworks and programs.

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Dispositions as Necessary Conditions for
Effectiveness

• 95 of the problems are created by 5 of the
  students/teachers
• Dispositions change slowly if at all
• Select for dispositions at entry to education
  programs and the profession
• Design and implement programs to enhance
  dispositions

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Effective Educators
Degenerative
Transformative
Ineffective Effective
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Effective Educators
effective
transformative
Boosting Performance (i.e. enrollment,
graduation, impact)
ineffective
effective
degenerative
Improving the Human Condition (i.e. learning,
happiness, health)
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The Four a priori Questions

• What is meant by dispositions?
• How will the definition be used in the conceptual
  frameworks and programs?
• How will dispositions be assessed?
• What is required for a successful implementation?

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What is meant by dispositions?
A Priori Question One
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Your Favorite Teacher

• What is the first thing that comes to mind?

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Your Favorite Teacher
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Your Favorite Teacher

• He really enjoyed teaching and cared about
  students.
• She looked for the good in each of us.
• He could teach something and make it fun.
• She held our interest with her lively, humorous
  manner and her thorough knowledge of the subject.
• He believed in me.
• She challenged us.
• He saw us as unique and treated us with respect.
• She really knew her subject and had a passion for
  it.

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Your Worst Teacher

• What is the first thing that comes to mind?

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Your Worst Teacher
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Your Worst Teacher

• I love to teach, I just cannot stand the kids.
• I was supposed to teach gifted kids but got you
  instead.
• I prepare the best lessons a teacher can prepare
  and they send me the wrong kids.
• I teach the best and forget the rest.

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Defining Dispositions

• The construct of dispositions is still one of
  the most ill-defined in educational circles.
• Institutions use a variety of definitions
  including behaviors, personal characteristics,
  and perceptual orientation.

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The Current State of Affairs What do we mean by
DISPOSITIONS?

• BEHAVIORS Writes and speaks standard English,
  punctual, smiles, neat orderly appearance
• CHARACTERISTICS tolerant of differences,
  open-minded, patient, enthusiastic, critical
  thinker
• PERCEPTIONS Identifies with diverse learners,
  believes all children can learn, people
  oriented.

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Building a Theoretical Construct for Dispositions

• Behaviors
• Characteristics
• Perceptual
• Orientation

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What We Can Teach
relatively difficult to change
relatively easy to change
content
skills
dispositions
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Regis University Behaviors

• Regis University uses 13 dispositions with three
  levels of competency under each disposition area.
  The disposition statements are not directly
  correlated with INTASC or NCATE standards. Regis
  dispositions include
• Attendance and Punctuality
• Self Initiative/Independence/Reliability
• Oral Expression
• Written Expression
• Student Self Esteem Focus
• Respect for Diversity
• Professional Interaction with Students/Peers/Paren
  ts/University Staff
• Response to Feedback/Supervision
• Commitment to Ethical. Legal and Moral Practices
• Appropriate Dress
• Appropriate Deportment
• High Student and Personal Expectations
• Knows and Follows School Policies

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Landers University Measures Behaviors
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Stronge Leans Toward the Measurement of
Characteristics
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Conceptual Framework The Effective Educator as
Effective Person
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Pioneering Work of Arthur W. Combs

• Combs investigated the dispositions effective
  helping professionals.
• Used of high-inference tools to assess
  dispositions.
• Dispositions toward oneself, students, and the
  task of teaching can distinguish effective from
  ineffective educators.

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Perceptual Theory of Arthur W. Combs

• Behavior is the symptom of dispositions
• Dispositions are cumulative and change slowly
• Research-based Assessment Rubrics
• Self-as-Instrument
• Reading Behavior Backwards

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Florida Studies in the Helping Professions

• Factor analysis determined four dispositional
  areas with 12 rubrics.
• Found significant differences between perceptions
  of effective and ineffective professionals.
• Effectiveness was determined by evaluation of
  teachers by pupils, by peers, by administrators,
  teachers who won national honors for their
  outstanding teaching, and even by student product
  outcomes (test scores on achievement tests).

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How will the definition be used in the conceptual
framework?
A Priori Question Two
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Using Dispositions Constructs

• Selection Criteria
• Integrated into program curriculum
• Exit criteria
• Reappointment decisions

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Philosophy

• Ideally, people considering a career in
  education should be provided with an opportunity
  to make self-assessments about their
  dispositional fit followed by mentoring and
  guided reflections with education advisors
  culminating with the requirement that the
  students provide evidence of meeting the required
  dispositions prior to formal admission to the
  program.

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Legally Defensible

• To address the ethical and legal concerns
  teacher educators must have a research-based
  rationale for the dispositions-related outcomes
  of candidates and graduates as well as a
  methodology by which to assess these outcomes. 

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A Dispositions ModelStudent Admissions Strategy

• Step I Self-Assessment and Self-Selection
• Step II Mentoring and Counseling
• Step III Admitted/Deferred

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Step I Self-Assessment and Self-Selection

• Introduction to Education Assignments
• Four Dispositions Assignments
• School observations and reflections
• Major Goal Dispositional Self-assessment

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Step I Self-Assessment and Self-Selection
Sample Assignments

• Assignment 1 - Human Relations Incident
• Assignment 2 - My Favorite Teacher Essay
• Assignment 3 - Effective Educators Dispositions
  
• Assignment 4 - Reflecting on Personal
  Dispositions

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Step II Mentoring and Counseling

• Provided by Advisor and Instructor
• Personal Knowledge of Students
• Dispositions Reflections Assignments
• Opportunities to Observe Dispositions
• Rubrics for Necessary Dispositions
• Recommendation to Admit or Defer

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Step III Admitted/Deferred

• Admitted to Teacher Education candidate has
  demonstrated that she/he has the dispositions
  necessary by having three recommendations from
  faculty trained on dispositions rubrics and/or
  through an interview with admissions panel.
• Deferred candidate has not demonstrated that
  she/he possesses the necessary dispositions.

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Using the Rubrics

• Self-assessment and career guidance
• Admissions decisions for teacher education
• In interviewing candidates for an alternative
  certification and MAT programs
• In interviews with candidates for positions in
  higher education and districts
• As guidelines for curricular and PD experiences
  for enhancing dispositions
• As guides for self-improvement

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How will dispositions be assessed?
A Priori Question Three
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Human Relations Incident (HRI)

• I would like you to think of a significant past
  event, which involved yourself in a teaching role
  with one or more other persons. That is, from a
  human relations standpoint, this event had
  special meaning for you. In writing about this
  event, please use the following format
• FIRST Describe the situation as it occurred at
  the time.
• SECOND What did you do in the particular
  situation?
• THIRD How did you feel about the situation at
  the time you were experiencing it?
• FOURTH How do you feel about the situation now?
  Would you wish to change any part of it?

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PRACTICE MATERIALS

• HRIs were written by undergraduate and graduate
  students enrolled in college courses.
• Open Practice Materials to HRI 1

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Using the Perceptual RubricsPractice Materials
HRI 1PERCEPTIONS OF SELF AS Identified

• IDENTIFIED
• The educator feels a oneness with all mankind.
  He/she perceives him/herself as deeply and
  meaningfully related to persons of every
  description.

• UNIDENTIFIED
• The educator feels generally apart from others.
  His/her feelings of oneness are restricted to
  those of similar beliefs.

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Using the Perceptual RubricsPractice Materials
HRI 2PERCEPTIONS OF Others as Able

• ABLE
• The educator sees others as having capacities to
  deal with their problems. He/she believes others
  are basically able to find adequate solutions to
  events in their own lives.

• UNABLE
• The educator sees others as lacking the
  necessary capacities to deal effectively with
  their problems. He/she doubts their ability to
  make their own decisions and run their own lives.
  

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Using the Perceptual RubricsPractice Materials
HRI 3 PERCEPTION OF PURPOSE AS LARGER

• LARGER
• The educator views events in a broad
  perspective. His/her goals extend beyond the
  immediate to larger implications and contexts.

SMALLER The educator views events in a narrow
perspective. His/her purposes focus on immediate
and specific goals.
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Using the Perceptual RubricsPractice Materials
HRI 4 A PEOPLE FRAME OF REFERENCE

• PEOPLE
• The educator is concerned with the human aspects
  of affairs. The attitudes, feelings, beliefs,
  and welfare of persons are prime considerations
  in his/her thinking.

• THINGS
• The educator is concerned with the impersonal
  aspects of affairs. Questions of order,
  management, mechanics, and details of things and
  events are prime considerations in his/her
  thinking.

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Four Scales HRIs

• HRI 5 and 6 on all scales

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More Training on HRIs

• Post-test materials
• Discussions

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Preliminary Research

• In our preliminary research, we have found
• That students can write human relations incidents
  and favorite teacher essays and use the rubrics
  to score them.
• That trained scorers can agree on rubric ratings.
• That some students do a poor job of assessing
  themselves.

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Discussion

• This preliminary data indicates that
  self-assessment protocols may not be useful for
  students who do not have the dispositions
  associated with effective teachers.

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Passing the Legal Test Deferring Student
Admissions

• Clearly articulated Conceptual Framework
• A valid and reliable measurement strategy
• Highly skilled assessment team
• Clearly delineated procedures
• A reasonable implementation schedule with
  adequate notice

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A PRIORI Question Four

• What can be done to get commitment and buy-in
  from faculty and administration?

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Support

• Support -- philosophical, human and financial --
  from the administration and faculty must exist.
• Inducers of support
• reaccreditation
• reducing candidates who generate the most
  emotionally and legally angst

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Task Force

• Create an ad hoc task force of respected faculty
  members to spearhead the effort.
• Design a strategy to engage the entire faculty

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Success

• An intensive process that included at least three
  elements
• examine philosophical underpinnings -- mission
  and values
• Present current research and tried approaches
• develop an iterative process that engages all
  stakeholders

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Reasonable Implementation Timeline

• Depends on
• the extent of dialog required to gain consensus,
• the amount of revision to the conceptual
  framework that will be necessary,
• the extent to which assessment tools and
  procedures will need to be developed or modified,
• the degree to which curriculum will need to be
  modified, and,
• when candidates will be expected to meet the
  dispositions criteria.

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Multi-Year Task

• Having a fully integrated dispositions construct
  is an arduous, multi-year task that requires much
  thought, effort and commitment by the faculty and
  administration.
• A fully implemented model that encompasses all
  program elements might require five or more years
  to complete.
• This would involve
• conducting the research and participating in
  extensive dialog to define the construct,
• incorporating and then testing the dispositions
  elements within the conceptual framework to see
  if they are workable and efficacious, and
• then collecting and using data for continuous
  program improvement.

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Gaining Proficiency on Dispositional Rubrics

• Self-Instructional Materials
• Training Workshop
• Colleague Workgroups
• Post-Test Assessment

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Using the Rubrics

• Self-assessment and career guidance
• Admissions decisions for teacher education
• In interviewing candidates for an alternative
  certification and MAT programs
• In interviews with candidates for positions in
  higher education and districts
• As guidelines for curricular and PD experiences
  for enhancing dispositions
• As guides for self-improvement

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Conclusion

• Integrating dispositions is a challenging but
  unifying activity for a program and its faculty.
• The intentional, thoughtful and research-based
  implementation of a dispositions can
  significantly enhance the quality of educators
  and the learning of students.

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Good Resources

• JOIN NNSED ITS FREE! (information about
  Dispositions, training materials, Symposium
  information and more)
• www.educatordispositions.org
• Information about Dr. Arthur Combs, The Florida
  Studies and small grants for graduate student
  research
• http//www.fieldpsychtrust.org/