Using four teaching evaluation variables selected from the Texas Teacher Appraisal System Teacher Orientation Manual (Texas Education Agency, 1986), 100 music education majors and 100 nonmusic, education majors evaluated a 12-minute videotaped segment of a fifth-grade music class. Each subject was assigned one of four different tasks to be performed during the observation period.
Ratings given by nonmusic majors were significantly higher than were ratings given by music majors for the variables Reinforces Correct Responses, Gives Corrective Academic Feedback, and Reinforces Appropriate Behavior. There was no significant difference in evaluation ratings among the four observation task conditions. Only among observers who were directed both to record teacher feedback during the observation and to calculate the total numbers of teacher approvals and disapprovals was there any significant relationship between the teacher behavior recorded and subjects' evaluation ratings. The correlations between teacher behavior and evaluation ratings in this condition, although statistically significant, were relatively low.
