Better measures lead to better evidence for decision-making in education.

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Recent Updates:

New Collection | March 2026

Collection: Science Instruction

EdInstruments collections are specialist-curated shortlists with guidance to help researchers and school improvement teams measure well, and measure in similar ways across settings. The Science Instruction collection includes classroom observation protocols, teacher knowledge assessments, and student surveys and interviews that document how science learning unfolds and why it matters to students’ lives and futures.

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Toolkit Update | December 2025

rppl and the Annenberg Institute at Brown University logos layered on top of the toolkit model for 2025

Toolkit: Assessing ELA and Math Curriculum Shifts

The EdInstruments toolkit from RPPL helps school and district leaders collect data in critical areas of school improvement. Our Assessing Curriculum Shifts toolkit, including tools for ELA, Math, and subject-agnostic use, is now available.

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Popular Instruments

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See our most accessed surveys, assessments, and observation protocols

Instructional Quality Assessment Tool (Tekkumru-Kisa et al., 2020)

Expert Notes

Strengths:
Uses both classroom observations and student work to capture what students are actually doing

Cautions:
Not intended to be used as a teacher evaluation
Tested with a small sample from a single secondary school in the southeastern U.S.
Results depend heavily on which lessons or assignments teachers submit
Requires clear guidance and rater training to ensure consistent scoring

Topics: Teacher and Leader Development

Tags: Science education

The Instructional Quality Assessment Tool for Science (IQA-Science) is designed to measure how rigorous and intellectually engaging science instruction is in real classrooms. IQA-Science combines classroom observations with teachers’ assignments and samples of student work to capture what students…

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Modeling-Based Teaching Observation Protocol (MBTOP) Shi et. al, 2021

Expert Notes

Strengths:
Focuses on what teachers actually do in classrooms when supporting scientific modeling
Uses clear performance indicators and levels that can support feedback, reflection, and PD
Grounded in video evidence, making expectations for modeling-based instruction concrete

Cautions:
Requires trained observers and time to score
Validated using videotaped lessons in China focused on electrochemistry, so may not generalize to other countries, grade levels, or science topics

Topics: Teacher and Leader Development

Tags: Science education

The Modeling-Based Teaching Observation Protocol (MBTOP) is a classroom observation protocol that measures the quality of teachers’ modeling-based teaching in science. Developed by Shi and colleagues in 2021, it assesses 18 indicators of modeling-based teaching performance (MBTP) across five…

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Science Practices Epistemic Survey Suite (includes: Epistemic Orientation Survey [EOS], Epistemic Nature of Science Practice Survey [ENSP], Science Practice Implementation Survey [SPI]; Kite et al., 2021)

Expert Notes

Strengths:
Provides insight for professional development by identifying areas where teachers may need support in implementing science-as-practice approaches.

Cautions:
Relies on self-reported implementation, so actual classroom practice may differ (desirability bias possible)

Topics: Teacher and Leader Development

Tags: Science education

This suite of surveys is designed to explore how secondary science teachers understand and implement the NGSS science practices. Together, the surveys measure three interconnected aspects: teachers’ epistemic orientations (views about how scientific knowledge is generated), their understanding of…

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Interview Protocol for Teacher Pedagogical Content Knowledge in Science (Alonzo & Kim, 2015)

Expert Notes

Strengths:
Helps reveal both the knowledge teachers can explain and the knowledge they use spontaneously while teaching.
Provides detailed insights into how teachers interpret and respond to student thinking.
Can inform teacher education and professional development by highlighting areas of strong and weak PCK (Pedagogical Content Knowledge)

Cautions:
Focused on high-school physics; may need adaptation for other grades or subjects.
Requires teachers to watch and reflect on videos, which takes time and comfort with video-based self-analysis.
Interpretation relies on skilled interviewers; different researchers might infer slightly different things from teacher responses.

Topics: Teacher and Leader Development

Tags: Science education

The Video-Based Interview Protocol for Teacher PCK in Science (Alonzo & Kim, 2015) uses video-based interviews to understand what teachers know about teaching science (their Pedagogical Content Knowledge, or PCK) and how they use that knowledge in real classrooms. Teachers watch short clips of…

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Better measures lead to better evidence for decision-making in education.

Browse the EdInstruments Library

Recent Updates:

Collection: Science Instruction

Toolkit: Assessing ELA and Math Curriculum Shifts

Popular Instruments

Instructional Quality Assessment Tool (Tekkumru-Kisa et al., 2020)

Modeling-Based Teaching Observation Protocol (MBTOP) Shi et. al, 2021

Science Practices Epistemic Survey Suite (includes: Epistemic Orientation Survey [EOS], Epistemic Nature of Science Practice Survey [ENSP], Science Practice Implementation Survey [SPI]; Kite et al., 2021)

Interview Protocol for Teacher Pedagogical Content Knowledge in Science (Alonzo & Kim, 2015)