The Development, Validation and Implementation of a Professional Disposition Instrument for Educator Preparation Programs

The identification and measurement of professional dispositions is widely recognized as an important component of any assessment system in educator preparation programs for pre-service teachers and other school professionals. Professional dispositions are the shared attitudes, values, beliefs, and behaviors that are expected from and demonstrated by educational professionals in a variety of different settings through their interactions with others. Teacher educators in the School of Education at a midsize public midwestern university recently developed and validated an instrument to measure the professional dispositions of candidates both on campus and during clinical field experiences. The process included identifying the purpose, forming a committee, researching the literature, developing the instrument, validating the instrument, and forming an implementation plan. The professional disposition instrument was developed by a committee of seven faculty and staff in the School of Education representing seven different undergraduate and graduate educator programs. The professional disposition instrument was validated by conducting a survey of the Program Advisory Committees serving as a panel of external stakeholders and educational experts. The survey respondents rated each dispositional item as essential, useful but not essential, or not necessary. A Content Validity Ratio (CVR) was calculated for each professional disposition item based on the survey results. This article describes the development, validation, and planned implementation of the new professional disposition instrument, including a discussion of the benefits and challenges of the process.