Bandura\u2019s Teacher Efficacy Scale (BTES)<\/strong> is a seminal, multidimensional psychological assessment instrument designed to measure educators\u2019 perceived capability to execute instructional, administrative, disciplinary, and socio-environmental tasks associated with professional school education. Developed by renowned psychologist Albert Bandura<\/a>, the BTES addresses limitations inherent in earlier unidimensional and generalized locus-of-control measures of educational efficacy, which frequently collapsed domain-specific capability judgments into generalized personal characteristics. Rooted firmly within social cognitive theory<\/a>, the scale operationalizes teacher efficacy not as a static trait, but as an agentic, context-dependent cognitive assessment of one’s capability across diverse instructional challenges, varying situational constraints, and distinct social ecologies.<\/p>\n The instrument consists of 30 self-report items distributed across seven conceptual dimensions: (a) Efficacy to Influence Decision Making<\/em>, (b) Efficacy to Influence School Resources<\/em>, (c) Instructional Self-Efficacy<\/em>, (d) Disciplinary Self-Efficacy<\/em>, (e) Efficacy to Enlist Parental Involvement<\/em>, (f) Efficacy to Enlist Community Involvement<\/em>, and (g) Efficacy to Create a Positive School Climate<\/em>. In adherence to Bandura\u2019s methodological guidelines for constructing self-efficacy scales, respondents rate their capability on an expansive 9-point continuum ranging from 1 (Nothing<\/em>) through intermediate anchors (3 = Very Little<\/em>, 5 = Some Influence<\/em>, 7 = Quite a Bit<\/em>) to 9 (A Great Deal<\/em>). This broad scale structure overcomes the artificial compression, restriction of variance, and psychometric ceiling effects characteristic of traditional 4- or 5-point Likert scales<\/span>.<\/p>\n Extensive psychometric investigations validate the structural integrity, internal consistency, and construct validity of the BTES. Across validation studies, the global scale consistently yields high internal reliability coefficients (Cronbach\u2019s α ranging from .88 to .95), with individual subscales exhibiting internal consistencies generally between .68 and .88. The BTES demonstrates robust convergent validity through moderate to high correlations with instructional persistence, classroom management strategies, proactive coping mechanisms, and student achievement outcomes, as well as divergent validity against generalized self-esteem and general neuroticism. As an essential diagnostic and empirical framework, the BTES remains widely utilized in educational psychology, teacher education, professional development program evaluation, and organizational school climate research.<\/p>\n Bandura’s Teacher Efficacy Scale, teacher self-efficacy, social cognitive theory, human agency, instructional self-efficacy, classroom management, disciplinary self-efficacy, school climate, educational assessment, psychometric validation, teacher professional development, school resources<\/p>\n Albert Bandura, Ph.D.<\/strong> (1925\u20132021) Archival and Distribution Custodianship:<\/em> While formulated by Albert Bandura as an unpublished psychometric instrument in the late 1990s, the measure was extensively documented, contextualized, and maintained for empirical distribution within educational scholarship by Anita Woolfolk Hoy, Ph.D.<\/strong>, Professor Emerita of Educational Psychology at The Ohio State University<\/a>. Researchers can access Bandura\u2019s instruments and related theoretical documentation through academic repositories preserved by The Ohio State University’s College of Education and Human Ecology.<\/p>\n The primary purpose of Bandura\u2019s Teacher Efficacy Scale is to provide a comprehensive, multidimensional, and task-specific assessment of educators’ beliefs regarding their professional capability to guide student learning, maintain disciplinary integrity, manage institutional constraints, and mobilize external social resources. For decades, the assessment of teacher efficacy was dominated by instruments derived from Julian Rotter\u2019s internal-external locus of control framework, most notably the two-item RAND Corporation study measure (Armor et al., 1976) and early iterations of the Teacher Efficacy Scale (TES; Gibson & Dembo, 1984). These early instruments collapsed teacher beliefs into broad dichotomies\u2014typically differentiating “Personal Teaching Efficacy” (PTE) from “General Teaching Efficacy” (GTE). However, such formulations suffered from theoretical conflation: they intertwined an educator\u2019s perceived internal capability with generalized outcome expectancies or institutional fatalism.<\/p>\n Bandura developed the BTES to align measurement practices directly with the canonical tenets of social cognitive theory. According to Bandura (1997, 2006), self-efficacy beliefs are inherently domain- and task-specific rather than global personality dispositions. A teacher may hold high efficacy perceptions regarding instructional delivery in mathematics or reading, yet feel powerless when attempting to curtail classroom disruption, secure modern instructional materials, navigate administrative bureaucratic hurdles, or solicit meaningful cooperation from disengaged parents. Therefore, an assessment tool must mirror the multi-faceted demands of the teaching profession.<\/p>\n In clinical, educational, and organizational research contexts, the BTES fulfills several critical functions:<\/p>\n The overarching construct assessed by the BTES is teacher self-efficacy<\/strong>, formally defined as a teacher’s subjective judgment of their capabilities to bring about desired outcomes of student engagement and learning, even among those students who may be difficult, unmotivated, or facing adverse socioeconomic conditions (Bandura, 1997; Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk Hoy, 2001). Under Bandura\u2019s formulation, self-efficacy is explicitly differentiated from self-concept (generalized self-worth), self-esteem (affective evaluation of oneself), and locus of control (attributions regarding the causes of behavioral consequences). The BTES operationalizes this construct across seven distinct yet interrelated sub-dimensions:<\/p>\n This dimension evaluates the degree to which an educator perceives agency and democratic voice within the broader institutional governance of the school. It addresses professional autonomy, participation in organizational policy formulation, and the capacity to express divergent viewpoints on pedagogical policies without fear of reprisal. For example, Item 1 (“How much can you influence the decisions that are made in the school?”<\/em>) taps an educator’s perceived institutional power.<\/p>\n Educational performance is profoundly shaped by the availability and accessibility of material and pedagogical tools. This subscale measures a teacher’s perceived capacity to obtain vital instructional equipment, technology, specialized materials, and funding necessary to facilitate enriched learning environments. Item 3 (“How much can you do to get the instructional materials and equipment you need?”<\/em>) measures this resource-seeking agency.<\/p>\n Representing the pedagogical core of the teaching enterprise, this subscale captures an educator’s perceived capability to stimulate cognitive growth, sustain academic focus, and adapt pedagogical practices across diverse student demographics. It explicitly evaluates the ability to teach under difficult circumstances, such as when home environments lack academic support (Item 6), when students demonstrate low intrinsic interest (Item 9), or when overcoming adverse community influences (Item 11). It measures the teacher’s agency in employing differentiated instruction, facilitating collaborative learning, and fostering long-term cognitive retention.<\/p>\n Effective teaching is contingent upon the maintenance of an orderly, psychologically secure learning environment. Disciplinary self-efficacy measures a teacher\u2019s perceived capability to establish behavioral norms, secure adherence to classroom rules, neutralize disruptive classroom behaviors, and proactively intervene against behavioral transgressions in unstructured school settings such as corridors, cafeterias, and school grounds (Items 13, 14, and 15).<\/p>\n Acknowledging that learning occurs across interconnected micro-systems, this dimension reflects an educator\u2019s perceived ability to cultivate functional home-school partnerships. It examines the teacher’s capability to bridge communication gaps, motivate parental attendance at school functions, assist parents in reinforcing educational targets at home, and establish an inclusive environment where caregivers feel welcomed and respected (Items 16, 17, and 18).<\/p>\n This subscale extends agency beyond school walls into the broader ecosystem. It assesses a teacher’s belief in their ability to mobilize community assets, including local civic organizations, religious entities, businesses, and post-secondary institutions (colleges and universities), to support educational programs, mentor at-risk youth, and provide supplemental educational opportunities (Items 19\u201322).<\/p>\n The final dimension assesses an educator’s agency in shaping the psychosocial, emotional, and organizational ethos of the entire academic institution. It encompasses measures of safety, student enjoyment, interpersonal trust between students and faculty, collegial mentoring among instructional staff, administrative collaboration, student retention, absenteeism reduction, and the cultivation of an academic growth mindset across the student body (Items 23\u201330).<\/p>\n The theoretical architecture undergirding the BTES is Albert Bandura\u2019s Social Cognitive Theory<\/strong> (1986, 1997). At the foundation of this theoretical model is triadic reciprocal causation<\/em>, which posits that human functioning is the product of continuous, dynamic interactions among three reciprocal determinants: (a) internal cognitive, affective, and biological events; (b) behavioral patterns; and (c) environmental influences.<\/p>\n Within this framework, human beings are neither autonomous actors guided purely by internal drives, nor passive entities buffeted by external environmental forces. Instead, individuals operate as active agents who intentionally influence their own functioning and life circumstances. Perceived self-efficacy<\/em> constitutes the central cognitive engine of human agency. Bandura posited that unless people believe they have the capability to produce desired effects through their actions, they have little incentive to act or to persevere in the face of difficulties. Self-efficacy beliefs regulate human functioning through four major psychological processes:<\/p>\n Bandura identified four primary informational sources through which efficacy beliefs are constructed and revised:<\/p>\n By measuring diverse behavioral spheres, the BTES captures the transactional reality of school environments, reflecting how teachers negotiate institutional hierarchies, manage student behavior, and activate external community resources.<\/p>\n Empirical evaluations of Bandura\u2019s Teacher Efficacy Scale confirm robust psychometric validity across educational, cultural, and geographic contexts.<\/p>\n Construct validity is evidenced by the scale’s alignment with theoretical expectations regarding teacher agency. Numerous studies indicate that BTES subscale scores discriminate between novice and veteran teachers, as well as between teachers working in supportive versus highly adversarial school environments. Efficacy beliefs captured by the BTES fluctuate systematically as a function of institutional support, access to teaching resources, and administrative openness, providing strong construct-related evidence.<\/p>\n Convergent validity has been evaluated through correlations with established measures of teacher efficacy, instructional practice, and psychological well-being. BTES scores correlate positively and significantly with:<\/p>\n Discriminant validity is supported by weak or non-significant correlations with conceptually distinct constructs. Investigations demonstrate that the BTES does not merely reflect generalized global personality traits:<\/p>\n Predictive validity is demonstrated across multiple longitudinal and cross-sectional designs. High scores on the BTES significantly predict objective student achievement outcomes, including standardized reading and mathematics gains. In longitudinal studies of early-career educators, baseline BTES scores predict teacher retention at 3- and 5-year follow-ups, with lower efficacy scores significantly predicting voluntary resignation and occupational burnout (Maslach Burnout Inventory emotional exhaustion subscale: r<\/em> = -.44 to -.58)<\/span>.<\/p>\n The BTES has demonstrated high internal consistency and temporal stability across extensive psychometric investigations in both pre-service and in-service educator cohorts.<\/p>\n Across validation studies, the global 30-item BTES yields total-scale Cronbach\u2019s alpha coefficients ranging between α = .88 and α = .95, demonstrating excellent overall internal reliability. When examined at the subscale level, internal consistency estimates generally satisfy standard psychometric criteria<\/span>:<\/p>\n McDonald’s omega (ω) coefficients, reported in modern structural equation modeling studies, mirror these alpha estimates, ranging from ω = .81 to .92 across the multi-item dimensions<\/span>.<\/p>\n Evaluations of the stability of the BTES over 4-week, 8-week, and 12-week intervals confirm high test-retest reliability in stable teaching environments. In cohorts experiencing unchanged working conditions, intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) and Pearson correlation coefficients ranged from r<\/em> = .74 to .84 across a 4-week interval, and from r<\/em> = .68 to .79 across a 12-week interval. As predicted by social cognitive theory, stability coefficients attenuate following major organizational transitions, student population changes, or intensive professional development interventions, reflecting the dynamic nature of efficacy beliefs<\/span>.<\/p>\n The structural dimensionality of Bandura\u2019s Teacher Efficacy Scale has been extensively evaluated using both Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA)<\/a> and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA)<\/a>.<\/p>\n Initial exploratory factor analytic investigations utilizing principal axis factoring and oblique (Promax or Oblimin) rotations consistently extract multi-factor solutions that mirror Bandura\u2019s theoretical dimensions. Because educational activities inherently overlap within school environments, factors demonstrate moderate inter-correlations (r<\/em> = .30 to .58), justifying oblique rather than orthogonal rotation strategies. EFA studies report that individual item factor loadings consistently exceed the conventional threshold of .40, with primary loadings frequently falling between .55 and .84. Minimal cross-loadings are observed on distinct dimensions, such as Disciplinary Self-Efficacy versus Efficacy to Enlist Community Involvement<\/span>.<\/p>\n Confirmatory factor analytic investigations have compared competing structural models: (a) a unidimensional general factor model, (b) an orthogonal 7-factor model, (c) an oblique 7-factor model, and (d) a second-order hierarchical model where the seven primary dimensions load onto a global, overarching teacher efficacy factor.<\/p>\n CFA studies report that the oblique seven-factor model and the hierarchical second-order model provide superior fit to empirical data compared to unidimensional or orthogonal alternatives. Standard goodness-of-fit indices reported across diverse samples include:<\/p>\n While the oblique 7-factor structure is psychometrically supported, researchers often examine Instructional Efficacy and Disciplinary Efficacy as a coherent pedagogical core, utilizing higher-order structural modeling when testing system-wide educational interventions.<\/p>\n Bandura\u2019s Teacher Efficacy Scale is a structured, standardized, 30-item self-report questionnaire designed for administrative assessment and educational research.<\/p>\n Year of Development:<\/strong> Circa 1990\u20131997. The scale was formally outlined in Albert Bandura\u2019s unpublished instruments and methodological guides on self-efficacy measurement, and was subsequently highlighted and archived by educational researchers (e.g., Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk Hoy, 2001).<\/p>\n Copyright and Usage Permissions:<\/strong> Albert Bandura dedicated his self-efficacy measurement instruments to the scholarly and educational community for non-commercial research, academic inquiry, and educational evaluation purposes. The BTES is freely accessible to researchers and educators without licensing fees, provided that appropriate scholarly attribution is accorded to Albert Bandura in resulting publications, theses, and reports. Commercial adaptation, inclusion within fee-based software platforms, or third-party resale requires explicit authorization from the Bandura estate and representative institutional archives.<\/p>\n Archival Repositories:<\/strong> Authentic copies of the instrument and related psychometric scoring materials are maintained for academic access through The Ohio State University Educational Instruments Archive<\/a> hosted by Dr. Anita Woolfolk Hoy.<\/p>\n Instructions:<\/em> This questionnaire is designed to help us gain a better understanding of the kinds of things that create difficulties for teachers in their school activities. Please indicate your opinions about each of the statements below by circling the appropriate number. Your answers will be kept strictly confidential and will not be identified by name.<\/p>\n Response Scale:<\/strong>2. Keywords<\/h2>\n
3. Authors<\/h2>\n
\nAffiliation:<\/em> Department of Psychology, Stanford University<\/a>, Stanford, California, United States.
\nAlbert Bandura served as the David Starr Jordan Professor Emeritus of Social Science in Psychology at Stanford University. He served as the 82nd President of the American Psychological Association (APA)<\/a> in 1974 and received the National Medal of Science from President Barack Obama in 2016. Bandura is globally recognized as the originator of social learning theory and social cognitive theory, pioneering empirical and conceptual work on observational learning, vicarious reinforcement, and the psychological construct of self-efficacy<\/a>.<\/p>\n4. Purpose<\/h2>\n
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5. Psychological Construct<\/h2>\n
1. Efficacy to Influence Decision Making<\/h3>\n
2. Efficacy to Influence School Resources<\/h3>\n
3. Instructional Self-Efficacy<\/h3>\n
4. Disciplinary Self-Efficacy<\/h3>\n
5. Efficacy to Enlist Parental Involvement<\/h3>\n
6. Efficacy to Enlist Community Involvement<\/h3>\n
7. Efficacy to Create a Positive School Climate<\/h3>\n
6. Theoretical Framework<\/h2>\n
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7. Validity<\/h2>\n
Construct Validity<\/h3>\n
Convergent Validity<\/h3>\n
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Discriminant Validity<\/h3>\n
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Predictive and Criterion Validity<\/h3>\n
8. Reliability<\/h2>\n
Internal Consistency<\/h3>\n
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Test-Retest Reliability and Temporal Stability<\/h3>\n
9. Factor Analysis<\/h2>\n
Exploratory Factor Structure<\/h3>\n
Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Model Fit<\/h3>\n
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10. Instrument \/ Measurement Tool<\/h2>\n
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11. Permissions & Fee and Test Year<\/h2>\n
12. References<\/h2>\n
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13. Items of the Scale<\/h2>\n
\n 1 = Nothing<\/span>
\n 2
\n 3 = Very Little<\/span>
\n 4
\n 5 = Some Influence<\/span>
\n 6
\n 7 = Quite a Bit<\/span>
\n 8
\n 9 = A Great Deal<\/span><\/p>\nEfficacy to Influence Decision making<\/h3>\n
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Efficacy to Influence School Resources<\/h3>\n
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Instructional Self-Efficacy<\/h3>\n
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Disciplinary Self-Efficacy<\/h3>\n
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Efficacy to Enlist Parental Involvement<\/h3>\n
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