Language education in Kindergarten classrooms – development of a measurement instrument assessing the quality of teachers' scaffolding in everyday interactions

Abstract

In the EmTiK intervention study, children's oral text abilities and the scaffolding quality of their teachers were examined in 65 classrooms. This article presents the instrument "Erwerbsunterstützendes Lehrpersonenhandeln" (EULE). The construct consists of four facets: framing and control, adaptation, stimulation, and linguistic means. These facets were assessed using video recordings, combining a holistic basic rating with a criterion-guided additional rating. Empirical testing revealed sufficient inter-rater reliability, scalar measurement invariance across the three measurement occasions, and high internal consistency. EULE thus proves to be a reliable instrument for assessing the quality of scaffolding in oral text abilities.