Elementary Teachers’ Science Content Knowledge: Relationships Among Multiple Measures

Abstract

This study examines relationships between measures of teacher science content knowledge using multiple instruments. A teacher questionnaire and a science test were administered to 203 elementary school teachers. A random subsample of 62 teachers was observed during science instruction. All teachers were asked the number of science courses they took in college. Significant positive correlations were found between science test scores and both self-reported science knowledge and classroom observation scores and between science courses taken and self-reported science knowledge. Test scores and observations were not correlated with courses taken, nor were observations correlated with self-reported science knowledge. These results suggest the evaluation of measures of teacher content knowledge, which are not interchangeable, as is often assumed in the literature.