BEGINNING TEACHER KNOWLEDGE OF EDUCATION IN THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: A NATIONAL SURVEY

The job analysis study described in this report was conducted to serve as one of the oases for documenting the content validity of the Praxis II: Subject Assessment in Elementary Education, one of a series of assessments for beginning teachers being developed by the Educational Testing Service. Two inventories of knowledge elementary school teachers need to teach the elementary school curriculum were constructed through an iterative process by a national group of teachers, teacher educators, and administrators. Form 1 covered content area and Form 2 detailed pedagogy specific to the areas most often taugr.:. Each inventory was sent to 510 teachers, 255 teacher educators, and 52 state administrators across the country. A cutpoint was set to differentiate important and unimportant knowledge, and three types of analysis of survey responses were conducted. Without qualifications, 72% of the Form 1 knowledge statements and 82% of the Form 2 statements may be used to develop test specifications. Fifteen tables present survey re-ults. Thirteen appendixes provide supplemental details about the survey including: demographic characte-istics of respondents, means by job category, and knowledge statements rated less than 2.50 by relevant subgroups for Forms 1 and 2. (Contains 13 references.) (SLD) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * from the original document. LL1 M.YJS SERIES Professional Assessments for Beginning Teachers' Beginning Teacher Knowledge of Education in the Elementary School: A National Survey Anne Reynolds Richard J. Tannenbaum Michael Rosenfeld