Development and validation of a multidimensional observation instrument for recording classroom management-related performances of physical education teachers (KlaPe-Sport)

Abstract

Although advanced classroom management skills of physical education teachers (PET) are considered to be crucial to ensure good physical education, there are no observation tools available to assess the quality of PET classroom management-related performances in a valid, reliable and objective manner; however, such observation tools appear desirable because they enable the quality of PET classroom management skills to be recorded in an ecologically valid and context-appropriate way. Thus, this study sought to identify the quality criteria which enable an appropriate assessment of PET classroom management-related performance. In a first step, a review of the literature and available observation tools was carried out and a provisional observation tool was developed. In a second step, a Delphi round was conducted with physical education experts (n = 8) to achieve content validation of the tool. Thereby, latent variables and items were changed, excluded and new items were generated. In a third step, an evaluation procedure was carried out for empirical validation. Raters (n = 6) completed a rater training for this purpose. Subsequently, the quality of PET classroom management-related performances was assessed on the basis of 166 teaching hours by apprentice and senior PETs. To verify the scientific quality criteria of the observation tool, factor analyses were carried out and interrater reliability was calculated. Based on the results of this empirical evaluation, a model with 9 latent variables was developed to which 27 items can be subsumed. The results of this study contribute to ensuring a valid, reliable and objective assessment of classroom management skills of PETs.