Use of observational measures to predict student achievement

This study examined the incremental validity of two observational assessments of teacher practice, the Classroom Strategies Assessment System - Observer Form (CSAS-O) and the Danielson Framework for Teaching (FFT), in relation to student achievement on the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Career (PARCC) mathematics and English/Language Arts (ELA) tests. Participants included 51 teachers and 487 fourth through eighth grade students from four high-poverty charter schools. Results revealed small to medium correlations between teachers’ practices and students’ academic growth. Using a series of two-level multilevel models, results indicated that including a second observation measure can improve the model's ability to predict students’ growth. In particular, adding FFT Total to CSAS-O Total scores significantly increased the variance explained in students’ growth in ELA. Similarly, adding the CSAS-O Total scores to the FFT Total significantly increased the variance explained in students’ growth in mathematics. Implications of the findings in relation to educational practices are discussed.