A confirmatory factor analysis of scores on the teacher efficacy scale

Validity studies on the Teacher Efficacy Scale provide us with neither clear evidence nor clear solutions to the factorial structure or the theoretical concepts underlying the scale's items. This study tests different factor structures of the Teacher Efficacy Scale as found in the literature using confirmatory factor analysis on data from a sample of 540 practicing teachers (males and females aged 21-64 yrs). Four factorial models were formulated based on theoretical analysis and on the results of several validity studies of the Teacher Efficacy Scale. In accordance with A. Bandura's (1997) self-efficacy theory, the results revealed that the fit of the four-factor oblique model was significantly better than that of the other factorial models. However, the fit of the four-factor model did not reach the recommended criterion of adequately fitting models. After eliminating three poorly loaded items, the model's fit improved significantly but insufficiently to reach the fit criterion. It was concluded that the Teacher Efficacy Scale in its current state does not provide precise and valid information about teacher efficacy beliefs. Recommendations to improve the factorial validity of the Teacher Efficacy Scale are made.