A Confirmatory Factor Analysis on Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale for In-Service Teachers in Malaysia

Abstract

This study presents the construct-related evidence of the Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES) developed by Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk Hoy (2001) for in-service teachers in the Malaysian context. The under-researched validation of the TSES in the local context warranted an investigation into unrevealing the scale’s psychometric properties. Thus, this cross-sectional study sought to determine the factor structure of the scale where factor loadings of each efficacy source contribution were determined. The 24-item scale, which drew on its sources from student engagement, instructional strategies, and, classroom management was explored through a confirmatory factor analysis method. The analysis demonstrated that a 9-item scale of the three-factor structure model well fitted the data of the local setting. The study recommends improvement on the items so that they could better represent the underlying constructs to match the culture within a different educational setting. This implicates the use of the scale in measuring teacher efficacy for in-service teachers in Malaysia as it was empirically proven to have factor stability.