Profiling teacher/child classroom communication: reliability of an alternating time sampling procedure

Abstract

Reliability of an on-line, alternating time sampling (A TS) procedure was examined for evaluating classroom communication acts. Fifteen limited-language children were videotaped during classroom activities while two trained judges simultaneously coded teacher/child com munication acts on-line. Judges systematically alternated attention from child to teacher each minute during sampling. Analyses revealed high interjudge reliability for live coding and high agreement between A TS and continuous coding on all measurements. ATS appears practical for classroom assessment and measurement of treatment effects.