Development and validation of the Beile Test of Information Literacy for Education (B-TILED)

Few constituencies exist where it is more important to produce information literate individuals than teacher candidates, yet rarely is it suggested that practitioners entering the field are adequately prepared to teach and model information literacy to their students. As a result, information literacy has been established as a key outcome by a number of teacher education accrediting bodies and professional associations. Corollary to this initiative is the effort to develop valid instruments that assess information literacy skills. Yet, at the time of this dissertation, no rigorously reviewed instruments were uncovered that measure the information literacy skills levels of teacher candidates.; The study describes the development and validation of the Beile Test of Information Literacy for Education (B-TILED). Funded in part by the Institute for Library and Information Literacy Education and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the study is part of a national initiative spear-headed by the Project for the Standardized Assessment of Information Literacy Skills (SAILS).; Test content is based on nationally recognized standards from the International Society for Technology in Education and the Association of College and Research Libraries. Procedures designed to enhance the scale's validity were woven throughout its development. 172 teacher education students at a large, metropolitan university completed a protocol consisting of 22 test items and 13 demographic and self-percept items. This instrument can be used to inform curricular and instructional decisions and to provide evidence of institutional effectiveness for program reviews.