Abstract
The NCATE Standards define dispositions (affect) as follows: "The values, commitments, and professional ethics that influence behaviors toward students, families, colleagues, and communities and affect student learning, motivation, and development as well as the educator's own professional growth." (p. 53, emphasis added), and even the Miriam-Webster On-line Dictionary helps us to see that dispositions are about tendencies to act rather than the skills themselves. Educators have often described constructs such as cognitive and affective objectives as different (Bloom, et al., 1956; Anderson and Krathwohl, 2001), thereby requiring different assessment techniques. They are different constructs for assessment purposes even though one can philosophically see a teacher as a composite of performance on several constructs simultaneously. The INTASC [Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium] Principles (CCSSO, 1992) help articulate the differences between dispositions and skills by listing indicators for both constructs separately and at the same time align the knowledge, skills, and dispositions across principles. In this paper, we describe the items and techniques appropriate for measuring teacher dispositions. "Disposition Assessment Aligned with Teacher Standards--The DAATS Model for Improved Teacher Assessment" is appended.