Field Experience Set 2: Hours 6-10
Part 1: Observations: For a total of 4 hours, observe 2 to 4 teachers in your certification area or in a
certification area other than your own. (Note: Remember that by the end of the semester, you must
observe a total of 10 teachers in 5 different schools.) As you are observing, answer the questions below.
Questions:
 Bias: What was said or done by the teachers or students that could be seen as unfairly
penalizing some students or being offensive? Look for nonverbal actions, too. For example, did
the teachers call on certain students more than others? Were there any students who keep
misbehaving and distracting the other students and the teachers? Was anything written on
desks, bulletin board, ect. that could be offensive or unfair to students?Did the teachers use
examples that might only be understood by one groups of students? Did you witness any
bullying during the observations? These are just a few sample questions of what to look for.
 In every class, the teacher did call on boys more than girls. I will point out that in each class,
there were more boys than girls, and in all three the boys tended to be a bigger behavior
problem.

Absence-of-Bias: What measures were taken by the teachers or other students to avoid bias in
the classroom? For example, did the teachers use person-first language when referring to
students with disabilities? Was any politically correct language used by the teachers or written
anywhere in the classroom? Did the teachers use diverse examples to help explain concepts?
Did teachers welcome comments from a diversity of learners (male and female students,
different ethnicities, ect.)?
 Teacher number one gave students with disabilities counting blocks instead of the
multiplication tables that other students were working on.
 The second teacher (whether conscious or not) actually fell into a pattern of calling on boys
and girls while doing an exercise.
In Pass-Port: Enter each observation separately with the correct teacher, school, and specific length of
time you observed (no rounding).
Part 2: Analyze an Assessment: (Counts for 1 hour). Ask one of the teachers for a copy of an activity
sheet or assessment that was used during your observation. Turn in the activity/assessment document
to Dr. Morris on the class day immediately following the due date for this assignment. Answer the
questions below based on your 1) interaction with the teacher about the activity/assessment, 2) your
observation of the students while they completed the activity/assessment, and 3) your information from
your notes or the book.
Bias/Absence-of-Bias Questions:
■ What, if anything, on the activity/assessment contains bias?
 The assessment did not contain any bias.
■ What examples do you see on the activity/assessment that show an attempt to avoid
bias? (diverse names, easily understood content and words, ect.)
 The assessment was a math worksheet with no word problems and
instructions/questions were cut and dry. There was not much room for assessment.
■ Consider the activity/assessment as a whole. Might it offend or unfairly penalize any
group of students on the basis of personal characteristics, such as gender, ethnicity,
religion, or race?
 I do not believe so.
■ What accommodations were given to students with disabilities or English language
learners? You will need to ask the teacher for help with this question.
 The one student with a disability was taken to a Special Education class.
Validity Questions:
■ What is the content standard (objective) or curricular aim of the activity/assessment?
 The worksheet aimed to measure students’ understanding of some basic geometry
and graphing.
■ Does the activity/assessment have face validity? Explain why or why not.
 Yes – looking at the worksheet as a whole, it appeared to consistently measure the
objective.
■ Does the activity/assessment have content validity? Why or why not?
 Yes – upon a closer look, all question pertained to the objective, and there was a
wide enough rage of assessment to ensure comprehension.
■ Do you think the activity/assessment has criterion-related validity? Explain why or why
not. In other words, if the student does well on the activity/assessment, do you think it
will help him or her do well on an upcoming test or other type of assessment or is the
activity/assessment kind of useless?
 I do believe that students that do well on this should do well on upcoming tests. He
or she is sufficiently tested on the worksheet for this lesson.
■ Does the activity/assessment help the students get the big picture (construct validity) or
does it focus too much on the small details? Explain.
 Yes – the worksheet approaches the concepts from different angles (no pun
intended).
■ Do you think the activity/assessment has consequential validity? To help answer this
question, you will need to ask the teacher how he or she will be using the results of the
activity/assessment.
 I do not think it does have consequential validity. The teacher will not be using it as
a grade or even picking it up.
Reliability Questions:
■ Do you think the activity/assessment is reliable? In other words, do you think the
students' responses will be consistent? To answer this question, you will need to observe
the students working on the activity/assessment and maybe glance at some of their
answers.
 Students’ answers may not be reliable. There are many different concepts measured
in it assessment, and there may be some concepts better grasped.
■ From class, you know that the more items there are in an educational assessment, the
more reliable it will tend to be. So, do you think the assessment has enough items to be
reliable? Explain your decision.
 I believe there is a perfect amount of questions. Every area is sufficiently covered,
making sure that it is approached in different ways.
In Pass-Port: Enter Dr. Michelle Morris as the teacher. Enter Case Study for the school. Enter 1 hour
for this entry.