The value of assessing the generic teaching quality of Norwegian secondary education lessons: International Comparative Analysis of Learning and Teaching as a measure of effective teaching behavior

Research on teacher effectiveness has consistently shown that teaching quality is a primary means for enhancing student learning and outcomes. Improving teaching quality has been a main goal of the educational improvement agenda. The field has witnessed a growing interest in using classroom observation instruments to facilitate the improvement of teaching quality in terms of effective teaching behavior. International Comparative Analysis of Learning and Teaching (ICALT) is a generic, non-subject-specific teaching observation instrument originally developed by the Dutch Inspectorate of Education in cooperation with the Central Inspectorates in several European countries. This research reveals the value of ICALT as a framework for assessing teaching quality, using two video-recorded Norwegian mathematics and language arts lessons as demonstrative materials. Results show that the use of ICALT provides useful information regarding the general quality of the observed individual lessons. General patterns and fine-grained differences between the observed lessons could be identified.