Teacher beliefs and practices survey: operationalising the 1997 NAEYC guidelines

This study examined the psychometric properties of a revised measurement, the Teacher Beliefs and Practices Survey (TBPS), devised for teachers of three‐ to five‐year‐old children. This measure was designed to reflect the concepts of developmentally appropriate practices (DAP) as presented in the revised 1997 National Association for the Education of Young Children guidelines. Reliability was examined using an internal consistency method. Validity of the measure was examined in its content, criterion and construct. The factors uncovered in the survey supported the content validity because the factors matched the important concepts of DAP in the revised guidelines. To examine concurrent criterion‐related validity, teachers' observed practices were compared to their self‐reported beliefs and practices. The low but significant correlation between the TBPS score and a theoretically related measure, the Teacher Educational Attitude Scale, supported construct validity. Considering the psychometric properties, the TBPS appears to be a promising measure for critically examining teachers' beliefs about and practices of DAP.