Learning Sciences Lunch and Learn with Dr. Drew Gitomer “Understanding and Using Observer Disagreement to Promote Professional Development”
Connect with colleagues during this in-person presentation at the GSE (Room 124). Pizza will be provided! Can’t attend in person? Join us remotely via Zoom!
For at least two decades researchers have studied the consistency of ratings of classroom instruction by trained observers. Despite significant efforts focused on protocol design, observer training and calibration, and refined analytic methods, rater inconsistency continues to be a source of frustration and concern for those who are researching teaching and teacher quality. It can also be a cause of concern in teacher education programs like ours. In this talk, I first introduce a conceptual framework for understanding why inconsistency in observer ratings is inevitable and why the pursuit of high levels of reliability is always an unrealistic endeavor. I then describe and illustrate strategies and processes that can be used to, first, reveal ambiguities and lack of clarity of the observation protocol itself and, second, to leverage inconsistencies to promote deeper understanding of teaching practice by eliciting and engaging with legitimate differences in perspectives on the observation that are sensitive to the complexity of teaching. Finally, I consider productive research directions that can enhance our understanding of teacher observation and teacher quality.
Drew Gitomer is the current and inaugural holder of the DeMarzo Chair in Education at Rutgers Graduate School of Education (GSE). His recent work includes a focus on research methods used to study the use of research evidence (URE). Gitomer has also been significantly involved in research on educational policy, particularly in the area of teaching quality, assessment, and evaluation. His research considers a range of constructs that are related to teaching quality—teacher knowledge, teacher beliefs, student achievement, and quality of classroom interactions.