THE DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF AN INSTRUMENT TO OBSERVE AND RECORD SEXIST CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR OF HOME ECONOMICS TEACHERS (FLORIDA, SELF-EVALUATION)

The purpose of the study was to develop and field test an instrument that can be used to observe and record the presence of sexist teacher behaviors in the home economics classroom. The instrument developed consists of behavioral descriptors used in conjunction with frequency response columns.;Upon completion of the instrument, a field test was conducted using the instrument to observe and record the behaviors of 15 Florida home economics teachers as viewed on 64 videotaped segments of vocational home economics and consumer-homemaking classes (grades 7 through 12).;Based on ten percent of the tape segments, the percentage of agreement among all three observers on behaviors observed and recorded was .63. The percentage of agreement over time for each of the observers was determined (.87, .80 and .83) by comparing instruments completed one week apart.;The following conclusions were formulated: (1) Based on the review of the jury of nationally recognized researchers in the area of educational sexism and the supporting evidence in the review of literature, it was concluded that the behaviors included in the instrument developed identify sexist teacher behaviors found in the classroom. (2) The results of the field test would indicate that the behaviors identified in the instrument developed are observable when using videotapes of classroom instruction. (3) Based on the results of the field test, the instrument developed achieved consistent results over time by individual observers and a high percentage of agreement among observers indicating reliability in observing and recording sexist teacher behaviors.;To help assure that the instrument developed would be valid, a jury of nationally recognized researchers in the area of educational sexism evaluated the instrument developed. The instrument was revised several times during its development based on the recommendations of the jury, a pilot study and a work session.