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Evaluating the structure of the Mathematics Teacher Questionnaire: A measure of exposure to mathematics instructional practices and content

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Abstract

Psychometric properties of 24 items from the fifth grade Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort Mathematics Teacher Questionnaire were investigated in a sample of 5,181 participants. These items asked teachers to report how often they had their classroom students engage in different mathematics content, skills and instructional practices. Exploratory factor analyses were employed to evaluate the underlying factor structure of the selected items. Results suggest that these items effectively measure three distinct latent constructs that are specific to mathematics instruction: Instructional Practices for Teaching Mathematics, Developing Number Sense, and Beyond Number Sense. These results support the use of this instrument as a guide for research and policy, or to inform teacher curriculum decisions.

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Acknowledgments

The research reported here was supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, US Department of Education, through Grant R305B040049 to the University of Virginia. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the US Department of Education.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Richmond, 28 Westhampton Way, Richmond, VA, 23173, USA

    Erin R. Ottmar

  2. University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA

    Timothy R. Konold, Robert Q. Berry, David W. Grissmer & Claire E. Cameron

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  1. Erin R. Ottmar
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  2. Timothy R. Konold
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  3. Robert Q. Berry
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  4. David W. Grissmer
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  5. Claire E. Cameron
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Correspondence to Erin R. Ottmar.

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Ottmar, E.R., Konold, T.R., Berry, R.Q. et al. Evaluating the structure of the Mathematics Teacher Questionnaire: A measure of exposure to mathematics instructional practices and content. Learning Environ Res 17, 127–138 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10984-013-9147-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10984-013-9147-5

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