DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF AN INSTRUMENT TO MEASURE TEACHER SELF-EFFICACY FOR MEETING THE NEEDS OF MILITARY-CONNECTED CHILDREN

The average military child changes schools six to nine times before graduating high school. With those moves come significant educational challenges, but there is currently no known instrument designed to measure whether teachers believe they are capable of meeting the needs of this population. The purpose of this study was to develop, pilot, and provide initial psychometric evidence for a scale, the Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale for Military Kids (TSES for MilKids), that measures teacher self-efficacy for meeting the needs of military-connected children. A 19-item instrument was created and distributed to regular education teachers in Grades 1-5 in civilian school districts located in the areas outside major Army posts across the United States. The instrument was also distributed to military-connected teachers through a non-profit military-connected organization. Initial results from exploratory factor analysis indicate the TSES for MilKids is a valid and reliable instrument. The creation of this survey instrument could help school leaders assess the self-efficacy of teachers in their organization and help those teachers better serve our nation’s military children