The aim of this study is to report the development and usability (wording, clarity, layout, and duration) of an instrument that measures teacher educators’ knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes toward Evidence-based teaching (EBT) practices. In addition, and in order to get first insights on teacher educators’ thinking processes, the study investigates their knowledge of the term EBT. EBT refers to teaching practices based on robust evidence retrieved from quality research studies. Research on evidence-based practices in medicine has identified several key variables such as practitioners’ knowledge, their beliefs, and their attitudes toward the implementation of research evidence into practice. Although these variables are also relevant in education, they have not yet been investigated. Because teacher educators support pre-service teachers’ learning and they model teaching through their own practices, their role in the classroom ecology of teacher education is crucial (Lunenberg, Korthagen, & Swennen, 2007). Therefore, a consistent use of EBT in this field is especially important and may accelerate the shift toward EBT at large. Based on existing instruments from the fields of medicine and social work, we developed three scales that assess teacher educators’ knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes toward EBT. A preliminary study (N = 30) was conducted in order to determine the reliability of our questionnaire. Our results reveal very good to good internal consistency for all three scales (Cronbach’s α ranging between .75 and .89). Moreover, our qualitative results show that teacher educators are aware of the term EBT but they struggle to define it. The results of the main study, along with the results of this preliminary study, will be presented and discussed. In addition, implications and future steps necessary to increase the implementation of EBT will be discussed.
