Abstract
The importance of positive teacher-child interactions for children’s development is well established. The Arnett Caregiver Interaction Scale (CIS; 1989) is a widely used measure of quality in caregiver-child interactions, yet it has serious psychometric and theoretical limitations. An adaptation of this scale, The Child Caregiver Interaction Scale (CCIS) (Carl, 2010), is a more valid and reliable measure for assessing group-interactions of caregivers and children in child care. Adapting it for use in primary schools may offer opportunities for measurement and teacher coaching. Here we describe the adaptation process of the Child Caregiver Interaction Scale for Primary schools (CCIS-P), present an overview of the preliminary findings regarding its psychometric properties look at associations with children’s perceived quality of interaction with their teacher. As part of a larger study on teacher coaching, thirty-eight early primary school teachers were observed in their classrooms using the CCIS-P and one of their students completed a questionnaire regarding their appraisal of teacher support (Y-CATS; Mantzicopoulos & Neuharth-Pritchett, 2003). Results show that the CCIS-P demonstrates high internal consistency on the total scale (Cronbach’s Alpha .82) and high inter-rater reliability on the domains (mean ICC .87 to .88) Preliminary results show positive correlations between child experienced autonomy in the relationship with the teacher and the Total CCIS-P score (r = .33; p = .05) and the Emotional domain (r = .39; p = .02). This study contributes to the understanding on how observation systems can be used to measure and improve teaching.
Keywords: Teacher Effectiveness, Tool development, Social aspects of learning and teaching, Primary education
Extended Summary. Development of the CCIS-P as an observation system for teacher-child class interaction in lower primary school.
A review of existing classroom observation systems concluded that not all underlying information and reasoning about observation systems are easily available (Bell et al., 2019). This limits the field’s understanding of how particular observation systems can be used to evaluate and improve teaching. Furthermore, the critical review of Burchinal (2018) urges for revision of current observational quality measures of early care and education programs as its associations with children’s outcomes only yields modest evidence for current quality indicators. In order for children to thrive they need sensitive interactions with teachers, positive classroom management, but also scaffolded interactions wherein teachers actively monitor children’s progress and use that information to individualize instruction and engage parents in education (Burchinal, 2018).
Following the recommendations of Bell et al., (2019) and Burchinal (2018) this study aims to describe the adaptation of the Child Caregiver Interaction Scale (CCIS; Carl, 2010) for use in lower primary school classes (CCIS-P). We will provide a preliminary overview of the construction of this instrument and its psychometric properties.
As part of an ongoing randomized controlled trial to test the effectiveness of a video feedback intervention to support lower primary school teachers (VIPP-School), 38 early primary school teachers from the Netherlands participated in the study. The majority was female (94.7%) and the average age was 41.84 years. Teachers had an average of 10.40 years of teaching experience, 22 of them teach kindergarten and 16 teach in Grade 1 or Grade 2. Prior to the start of the intervention, teachers were observed in their classroom using the CCIS-P and one of their students completed a questionnaire regarding their appraisal of teacher support (Y-CATS; Mantzicopoulos & Neuharth-Pritchett, 2003).
Scale development process in brief. The development of the CCIS-P is based on the CISS with roots in Constructivism, Ecological Systems Theory and Attachment Theory. The CCIS consists of 14 subscales covering three domains: Emotional, Cognitive and Social (Carl, 2017). First, the CCIS was pre-tested in kindergarten to see whether the original markers were generally suitable for application in classrooms instead of childcare. Next, based on literature review, consultation with the original developer of the CCIS, and two focus groups of teachers, we made adaptations to indicators and subscales. Currently, the CCIS-P is used in lower primary classes to test its reliability and construct validity.
Child-Caregiver Interaction Scale for Primary school (CCIS-P). The CCIS-P is a generic system, designed to capture key elements of classroom interactions that are critical for student’s learning and well-being across subjects and classes. It consists of 13 subscales covering three domains: Emotional (e.g. ‘tone of voice/sensitivity’ and ‘ acceptance/respect for children’), Cognitive (e.g. ‘scaffolding’, ‘learning opportunities’ and ‘language development’), and Social (‘social emotional learning’ and ‘arrival and contact with parents’). Each scale includes indicators describing concrete teacher-behaviours that are present or not. The 7-point rating scales include detailed criteria at four anchor points: 1 (inadequate), 3 (minimal), 5 (good), and 7 (excellent). We removed two subscales from all subsequent analyses as they did not fit in well with the primary school context (subscale ‘health and safety’) or because ratings could not be scored adequately due to the covid-19 pandemic (subscale ‘arrival and contact with parents’). This resulted in the loss of the social domain. As a result, the CCIS-P provides scores for the Emotional domain (4 scales; Cronbach’s alpha: .74), the Cognitive domain (6 scales; Cronbach’s alpha .61) and a Total score (11 scales; Cronbach’s alpha .82).
Interrater reliabilities for six raters in comparison with expert ratings were good. The mean ICC was .87 (SD = .16) for the total score, .88 (SD = .11) for the Emotional domain and .87 (SD = .15) for the Cognitive domain (k = 3 real-life observations or 5 videos). The average total score was 4.12 (SD = 0.90), which can be interpreted as adequate teaching. There was no difference in scores between kindergarten and 1st and 2nd Grade teachers (t (36) = -.07; p = .94).
Teachers provide emotional and academic support and their daily interactions with children shape the quality of teacher-child relationship (Pianta et al., 2012). Preliminary results show that child-experienced autonomy in the relationship with the teacher, as measured with the Y-CATS, positively correlates with the teacher’s ability to provide an emotional safe classroom surrounding (measured with the emotional domain of the CCIS-P; r = .39; p = .02) as well as an overall positive classroom atmosphere as measured with the total CCIS-P score (r = .33; p = .05) Among other constructs the CCIS-P measures if teachers offer opportunities for choice and autonomy in activities and scaffold learning. There were no association found between the scores on the CCIS-P and other domains of the Y-CATS (warmth, conflict).
At the time of the conference more data will be available. Moreover, results on the test-retest reliability of the CCIS-P will be presented. Future research on the reliability and validity of the CCIS coding system is expected. Various research groups in the Netherlands, UK and USA have expressed interest in using the CCIS-P.
Keywords: Teacher Effectiveness, Tool development, Social aspects of learning and teaching, Primary education
Extended Summary. Development of the CCIS-P as an observation system for teacher-child class interaction in lower primary school.
A review of existing classroom observation systems concluded that not all underlying information and reasoning about observation systems are easily available (Bell et al., 2019). This limits the field’s understanding of how particular observation systems can be used to evaluate and improve teaching. Furthermore, the critical review of Burchinal (2018) urges for revision of current observational quality measures of early care and education programs as its associations with children’s outcomes only yields modest evidence for current quality indicators. In order for children to thrive they need sensitive interactions with teachers, positive classroom management, but also scaffolded interactions wherein teachers actively monitor children’s progress and use that information to individualize instruction and engage parents in education (Burchinal, 2018).
Following the recommendations of Bell et al., (2019) and Burchinal (2018) this study aims to describe the adaptation of the Child Caregiver Interaction Scale (CCIS; Carl, 2010) for use in lower primary school classes (CCIS-P). We will provide a preliminary overview of the construction of this instrument and its psychometric properties.
As part of an ongoing randomized controlled trial to test the effectiveness of a video feedback intervention to support lower primary school teachers (VIPP-School), 38 early primary school teachers from the Netherlands participated in the study. The majority was female (94.7%) and the average age was 41.84 years. Teachers had an average of 10.40 years of teaching experience, 22 of them teach kindergarten and 16 teach in Grade 1 or Grade 2. Prior to the start of the intervention, teachers were observed in their classroom using the CCIS-P and one of their students completed a questionnaire regarding their appraisal of teacher support (Y-CATS; Mantzicopoulos & Neuharth-Pritchett, 2003).
Scale development process in brief. The development of the CCIS-P is based on the CISS with roots in Constructivism, Ecological Systems Theory and Attachment Theory. The CCIS consists of 14 subscales covering three domains: Emotional, Cognitive and Social (Carl, 2017). First, the CCIS was pre-tested in kindergarten to see whether the original markers were generally suitable for application in classrooms instead of childcare. Next, based on literature review, consultation with the original developer of the CCIS, and two focus groups of teachers, we made adaptations to indicators and subscales. Currently, the CCIS-P is used in lower primary classes to test its reliability and construct validity.
Child-Caregiver Interaction Scale for Primary school (CCIS-P). The CCIS-P is a generic system, designed to capture key elements of classroom interactions that are critical for student’s learning and well-being across subjects and classes. It consists of 13 subscales covering three domains: Emotional (e.g. ‘tone of voice/sensitivity’ and ‘ acceptance/respect for children’), Cognitive (e.g. ‘scaffolding’, ‘learning opportunities’ and ‘language development’), and Social (‘social emotional learning’ and ‘arrival and contact with parents’). Each scale includes indicators describing concrete teacher-behaviours that are present or not. The 7-point rating scales include detailed criteria at four anchor points: 1 (inadequate), 3 (minimal), 5 (good), and 7 (excellent). We removed two subscales from all subsequent analyses as they did not fit in well with the primary school context (subscale ‘health and safety’) or because ratings could not be scored adequately due to the covid-19 pandemic (subscale ‘arrival and contact with parents’). This resulted in the loss of the social domain. As a result, the CCIS-P provides scores for the Emotional domain (4 scales; Cronbach’s alpha: .74), the Cognitive domain (6 scales; Cronbach’s alpha .61) and a Total score (11 scales; Cronbach’s alpha .82).
Interrater reliabilities for six raters in comparison with expert ratings were good. The mean ICC was .87 (SD = .16) for the total score, .88 (SD = .11) for the Emotional domain and .87 (SD = .15) for the Cognitive domain (k = 3 real-life observations or 5 videos). The average total score was 4.12 (SD = 0.90), which can be interpreted as adequate teaching. There was no difference in scores between kindergarten and 1st and 2nd Grade teachers (t (36) = -.07; p = .94).
Teachers provide emotional and academic support and their daily interactions with children shape the quality of teacher-child relationship (Pianta et al., 2012). Preliminary results show that child-experienced autonomy in the relationship with the teacher, as measured with the Y-CATS, positively correlates with the teacher’s ability to provide an emotional safe classroom surrounding (measured with the emotional domain of the CCIS-P; r = .39; p = .02) as well as an overall positive classroom atmosphere as measured with the total CCIS-P score (r = .33; p = .05) Among other constructs the CCIS-P measures if teachers offer opportunities for choice and autonomy in activities and scaffold learning. There were no association found between the scores on the CCIS-P and other domains of the Y-CATS (warmth, conflict).
At the time of the conference more data will be available. Moreover, results on the test-retest reliability of the CCIS-P will be presented. Future research on the reliability and validity of the CCIS coding system is expected. Various research groups in the Netherlands, UK and USA have expressed interest in using the CCIS-P.
Original language | English |
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Publication status | Published - 31 Aug 2023 |
Event | EARLI 2023 - Thessaloniki, Greece Duration: 22 Aug 2023 → 26 Aug 2023 |
Conference
Conference | EARLI 2023 |
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Country/Territory | Greece |
City | Thessaloniki |
Period | 22/08/23 → 26/08/23 |