Measurement Invariance of Teaching Motivation across Public and Non-Public Experimental Schools in Taiwan.

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 7:45 am - Gold 4
  In Roundtable Session: Measurement Invariance and Differential Item Functioning in Educational Assessment

Abstract

This study examines whether the FIT-Choice motivational factors for choosing teaching are measured equivalently among teachers in two types of Taiwanese experimental schools (public vs. non-public). We surveyed 89 experimental school teachers and conducted a Bayesian multi-group confirmatory factor analysis to test measurement invariance of six motivation constructs. The main findings indicate: (1) the model demonstrated strong invariance ,indicating that motivational constructs are interpreted equivalently across groups; (2) latent mean comparisons revealed no credible differences, suggesting similar motivational profiles despite institutional differences; (3) this psychometric validation extends the scale’s applicability and highlights the utility of Bayesian methods for small-sample research; (4) fundamental teacher motivations transcend institutional arrangements, offering important implications for teacher recruitment and motivation research in alternative education contexts.

Author

• Shao Hung Hsieh, National Chengchi University