Development and Validation of the Virgilio Teacher Behavior Instrument

Abstract

This study was an attempt to develop an easily coded, research-oriented instrument to assess teacher effectiveness in the class- room. A 35-item Likert format scale was developed which included three subscales of teacher effectiveness: classroom management, instruction, and classroom climate. The results of the study indicated that the Virgilio Teacher Behavior Inventory (VTBI) is a reliable and valid instrument which can be administered with confidence either in elementary or junior high schools. Instrument development included the generation of an initial pool of 80 items which was refined during pilot testing to a final 35-item version. Content validity of the VTBI was indicated by an assessment of a panel of judges. Estimates of internal consistency (coefficient alpha) were .96 for the total inventory and .88, .96, and .85 for the classroom management, instruction, and classroom climate subscales, respectively. The relationship between the VTBI and a time-on-task measure (r = .64, p < .0001) provided an indication of concurrent validity. A five-factor solution consistent with the theoretical structure of the VTBI was obtained tentatively defining one classroom management, two instruction, and two classroom climate dimensions.

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