College and Career Readiness Teacher Expectation Survey (CCR-TES)

Abstract

The College and Career Readiness Teacher Expectation Survey (CCR-TES; Monahan et al., 2023) is a 33-item psychometric inventory developed to quantify the postschool expectations that educators—both general and special education teachers—hold for Students with Disabilities (SWD). This measure addresses a critical gap in existing College and Career Readiness (CCR) assessments, which historically lacked focus on the crucial role of Teacher Expectations in transition planning.

The instrument’s development began with an extensive review of CCR frameworks, resulting in an initial 54-item draft structured around five key conceptual domains: Academic Engagement, Interpersonal Engagement, Process-Oriented Skills, Ownership of Learning, and Transition Competencies. Following rigorous content validation by an expert panel and teacher focus groups, the instrument was finalized to 33 items. Subsequent Factor Analysis (both exploratory and confirmatory) confirmed a robust single-factor structure, demonstrating that the items reliably measure one overarching construct of educator expectation. Furthermore, invariance testing confirmed that the CCR-TES functions similarly for both special and general education teachers, highlighting its utility across different pedagogical groups.

Keywords

Academic Engagement, College and Career Readiness, Interpersonal Engagement, Ownership of Learning, Process-Oriented Skills, Students with Disabilities, Teacher Expectations, Transition Competencies, Educational Measures, School to Work Transition, Special Education Students, Special Education Teachers, Student Engagement, Career Readiness

Authors

Monahan, Jessica L., Lombardi, Allison, Madaus, Joseph, Freeman, Jennifer, Gelbar, Nicholas

Purpose

The primary purpose of the CCR-TES is to quantitatively assess the level of expectation held by general and special educators regarding the post-high school success and readiness of Students with Disabilities (SWD). By measuring these educator expectations, the instrument provides essential insight into the perceived College and Career Readiness of SWD from the perspective of those integral to their educational planning.

This data is crucial for researchers and policymakers aiming to understand how educator beliefs may influence the self-determination, transition services, and ultimate postsecondary outcomes of students receiving special education services.

Construct

The CCR-TES measures the singular, overarching construct of Educator Postschool Expectation for Students with Disabilities. Although the final measure is unidimensional, its foundation lies in a comprehensive conceptual framework developed from existing CCR literature, which originally outlined five key domains contributing to readiness:

• Academic Engagement: Measures expectations related to student persistence, involvement, and motivation in learning environments post-high school.

• Interpersonal Engagement: Assesses expectations concerning social competence, interaction skills, and the ability to maintain relationships in adult settings.

• Process-Oriented Skills: Focuses on expectations regarding executive functions, self-regulation, and effective learning strategies essential for independent living and employment.

• Ownership of Learning: Relates to expectations for self-determination, advocacy, and the student’s ability to take responsibility for their own educational or vocational trajectory.

• Transition Competencies: Encompasses specific skills necessary for navigating the transition from secondary school to college, career, or independent living.

Validity

Content Validity: Content validity was established through a meticulous process ensuring that the measure’s items comprehensively represent the domain of Teacher Expectations for CCR in SWD. Item development was directly aligned with established CCR frameworks. This was followed by a comprehensive review by a panel comprising nine expert researchers and a member of the target population (a teacher), whose feedback was used to refine, retain, or delete items, thereby maximizing the measure’s relevance and scope.

Construct Validity: Preliminary evidence for construct validity was established through rigorous statistical methods. Both Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis were employed, providing empirical support for the underlying theoretical structure of the scale and confirming that the items coherently measure the intended psychological construct.

Reliability

Internal Consistency: The CCR-TES demonstrates strong evidence of internal consistency, indicating that the 33 items are highly intercorrelated and reliably measure the same latent construct. This consistency was confirmed by an omega value of 0.99 for the one-factor model, reflecting excellent reliability for the instrument.

Factor Analysis

Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA): Initial EFA suggested a potential five-factor model, corresponding to the five conceptual domains used in item generation. However, high correlations observed among these five factors strongly indicated the presence of a more dominant, singular factor structure, suggesting that the scale measures a unified concept of educator expectation rather than five distinct sub-components.

Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA): Subsequent CFA was performed to test the fit of both the five-factor and one-factor models. The CFA results showed that the five-factor model had poor model fit. In contrast, the one-factor model, retaining the final 33 items, demonstrated acceptable fit with the collected data, statistically confirming the existence of a single, unifying construct underlying the measure.

Measurement Invariance: The study rigorously examined whether the CCR-TES functions equivalently across different groups of educators. By analyzing the change in the Comparative Fit Index (CFI) between the configural, metric, and scalar models, the authors confirmed strong evidence of Measurement Invariance. The observed changes in CFI were minimal (.001 between configural and metric models; .002 between metric and scalar models), adhering to strict psychometric guidelines (Cheung & Rensvold, 2012). This finding ensures that scores on the CCR-TES can be meaningfully compared between special education teachers and general education teachers.

Instrument

Test Type: Original Inventory/Questionnaire

Format: Respondents rate their level of agreement for each item.

Language Available: English

Population Group: Human (Male; Female)

Age Group: Adulthood (18 yrs & older)

Population Details:

• Location: United States

• Respondents: Special Education Teachers; General Education Teachers

Test Methodology: The development and validation of the CCR-TES involved a multi-faceted approach, including: Test Validity, Construct Validity, Content Validity, Test Reliability, Internal Consistency, Factor Analysis, Confirmatory Factor Analysis, Exploratory Factor Analysis, and Measurement Invariance.

Keywords

Educational Assessment, Psychometrics, Transition Planning, Special Education Teachers, General Education Teachers, Postschool Outcomes, Expectation Bias, Scale Development, Omega Reliability, Unidimensionality

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier:

• Monahan, Jessica L.: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7910-3667

• Lombardi, Allison: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7254-8820

• Madaus, Joseph: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0248-0629

• Gelbar, Nicholas: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7734-2207

Affiliation Email addresses: No data is Available

Correspondence Address: Monahan, Jessica L.: University of Delaware, 125 Academy Street, Room 105, Newark, Delaware, United States, 19716, [email protected]

Affiliation: All authors (Monahan, Jessica L., Lombardi, Allison, Madaus, Joseph, Freeman, Jennifer, Gelbar, Nicholas) were affiliated with the University of Connecticut at the time of publication.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Permissions: Contact the Corresponding Author for permissions to use the instrument.

Fee: No fee is associated with the use of this measure.

Test Year: 2023

References

Monahan, J. L., Lombardi, A., Madaus, J., Freeman, J., & Gelbar, N. (2023). Developing and validating the College and Career Readiness Teacher Expectation Survey for students with disabilities. Career Development and Transition for Exceptional Individuals, 46(2), 83–93. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/21651434221116311

Lombardi, A., Monahan, J. L., & Morningstar, M. E. (2020). Conceptual framework for college and career readiness: A guide for practitioners and policymakers. University of Kansas. No data is Available

Lombardi, A., Morningstar, M. E., & Monahan, J. L. (2018). College and career readiness for students with disabilities: A practitioner’s guide. Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co. No data is Available

Lombardi, A., Monahan, J. L., & Morningstar, M. E. (2022). College and career readiness: A comprehensive framework for students with disabilities. Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co. No data is Available

Morningstar, M. E., Lombardi, A., & Monahan, J. L. (2017). College and career readiness for all: A comprehensive framework. Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co. No data is Available

Cheung, G. W., & Rensvold, R. B. (2012). Testing measurement invariance across groups: A cautionary note on the use of difference in CFI and other fit indices. No data is Available

Items of the College and Career Readiness Teacher Expectation Survey (CCR-TES)

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

The CCR-TES consists of 33 items. While the specific items are not provided in the text, it is indicated that they can be found in Table 4, Page 88 of the source reference: Monahan, J. L., Lombardi, A., Madaus, J., Freeman, J., & Gelbar, N. (2023). Developing and validating the College and Career Readiness Teacher Expectation Survey for students with disabilities. Career Development and Transition for Exceptional Individuals, 46(2), 83–93. https://doi.org/10.1177/21651434221116311