Hybrid frameworks to capture teaching quality in secondary classrooms: the case of the TEDS-Instruct observation system

Abstract

Observation systems are frequently used to capture and improve teaching quality. The standardized observation system that we present in this paper captures four dimensions of teaching quality: classroom management, student support, cognitive activation, and educational structuring. Through the analysis of two videotaped lessons from Norwegian mathematics and language arts classrooms, we demonstrate the strengths and limitations of the observation system in detecting patterns of teaching quality across subjects at different levels of analysis (e.g., segment, item, and dimension level). The results show that, while important aspects of teaching quality are captured across subjects, some adaptations might be necessary to capture the characteristics of language arts classrooms in more detail. We discuss implications for educational research and practice.