Content Influence While Stage Scoring Moral Thought Statements

Abstract

Two types of test scores were analyzed to examine whether sixty teachers were unable to use Kohlberg's measurement system for determining stages of moral thought because they were stage scoring invalidly on the basis of content. The first type of score represented "intuitive" stage scoring by teachers after they had been exposed to Kohlberg's theory of and program for moral development and while they were using a description of moral stages. The second type of score represented the correct stage scoring of moral thought statements by teachers while they were using a published self-training rater manual. Visual and statistical analyses of the two types of test scores led to the conclusion that the teachers were invalidly stage scoring on the basis of content while "intuitively" stage scoring and also while using the published self-training rater manual.