A Test of Common Content Knowledge for Gymnastics: A Rasch Analysis

Teachers’ content knowledgehas been recognized as essential for effective teaching (Ball et al., 2008; Shulman, 1987; Siedentop, 2002). Content knowledge is a necessary prerequisite to making good instructional decisions... [ view full abstract ]

Teachers’ content knowledgehas been recognized as essential for effective teaching (Ball et al., 2008; Shulman, 1987; Siedentop, 2002). Content knowledge is a necessary prerequisite to making good instructional decisions (Ball et al., 2008; Shulman, 1987; Ward et al., 2015). Content knowledge has been defined as comprised of common content knowledge (CCK) and specialized content knowledge (SCK; Ball et al., 2008; Ward, 2009). The focus of this study is on CCK that consists knowledge of rules, techniques, andtactics and can be used to define the scope of what teachers teach in their lessons. Developing reliable and valid measures of teacher knowledge such as CCK strengthens the understanding of what teachers know, hence, the field’s abilityto help teachers in their practice. However, there are few validated tests of CCK of sport for teachers. The purpose of this study was to provide content andconcurrent validity evidence for a 19-question test of the CCK for gymnastics requiredin Turkish elementary and secondary schools. Participants were 240 preservice teachers who had previously taken a class in content knowledge for gymnastics in six state universities. Rasch modeling was used to evaluate the validity and reliability of the CCK gymnastics test. The infit statistics ranging from .87 to 1.23 andthe outfit statistics (.17 to 1.43) indicated that all 19 item scores were within the acceptable range of 0.5-1.5. High internal consistency for item difficulty (M=.29;SD =.67) and high internal consistency for person-ability (M= 9.4, SD= 3.3) were obtained. Overall analysis showed good evidence to support the validity and reliability of the CCK gymnastics test. The CCK test can be used in initial teacher education and continuing professional development to determinethe CCK knowledge of preservice and inservice teachers and in turn a measure of what they learn fromprofessional development efforts.