Teacher’s Professional Development Competencies Scale (TPDCS)

Abstract

This study aimed to develop a valid and reliable scale for determining teachers’ needs to increase their efficiency in professional practice. The stages of creating an item pool, consulting expert opinions, pilot testing, and conducting validity and reliability analyses were followed. Initially, a 46-item pool was created based on a literature review and the MoNE teacher competencies framework by two field experts. Two Turkish language experts reviewed the items for grammar and clarity. The item pool was refined to 30 items following expert feedback. The draft scale was piloted with 21 teachers. For the primary analyses, data were collected from 186 teachers for exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and from 223 teachers for confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), using a convenience sampling method. EFA was conducted using principal component analysis with varimax rotation to establish construct validity. CFA was then performed to confirm the structure obtained through EFA. Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were calculated to determine internal consistency for each sub-dimension. As a result, a five-factor, 17-item valid and reliable measurement tool was developed. The sub-dimensions of the Teacher Professional Development Competencies Scale (TPDCS) are Course Design Competency (CDC) (4 items), Classroom Management Competency (CMC) (5 items), Collaboration Competency (CLC) (3 items), Problem-Solving Competency (PSC) (2 items), and Communication Skills Competency (CSC) (3 items). A total score is not calculated; each sub-dimension is scored independently.