The Effect of Observation Length and Presentation Order on the Reliability and Validity of an Observational Measure of Teaching Quality

Observational methods are increasingly being used in classrooms to evaluate the quality of teaching. Operational procedures for observing teachers are somewhat arbitrary in existing measures and vary across different instruments. To study the effect of different observation procedures on score reliability and validity, we conducted an experimental study that manipulated the length of observation and order of presentation of 40-minute videotaped lessons from secondary grade classrooms. Results indicate that two 20-minute observation segments presented in random order produce the most desirable effect on score reliability and validity. This suggests that 20-minute occasions may be sufficient time for a rater to observe true characteristics of teaching quality assessed by the measure used in the study, and randomizing the order in which segments were rated may reduce construct irrelevant variance arising from carry over effects and rater drift.