Validity evidence of the teacher’s questionnaire in the Teaching and Learning International Study (TALIS-2009)

Abstract

TALIS-2008 is the first study of the OCED with the purpose of knowing and comparing the conditions in which teaching and learning take place in secondary schools (ninth grade), in 23 countries. Teachers’ and principals’ surveys were used, designed and constructed in English and French, to be translated later into different languages. This study provides evidence of construct validity of three scales: teacher beliefs, teaching practices and teachers’ professional cooperation. The teacher’s TALIS questionnaires are analyzed through structural equations modeling techniques under confirmatory factor analysis; 62,650 Mexican teachers participated in the study. In the case of Mexico, results show that two teaching scales have acceptable indexes, but this is not the case for the scale of teacher beliefs, whose adjustment levels did not reach minimum desirable levels (even after being restructured). We conclude that it is important to provide evidence of construct validity of scales, before large-scale studies take place. Finally, the explanatory power of the scales will be essential to provide recommendations for improvement and, consequently, improve the usefulness of this type of assessment.