Latent Profiles of Performance on Certification Testing: The Case of Special Education Teachers in Saudi Arabia

doi:10.13189/ujer.2018.060922

Journals Information

Universal Journal of Educational Research Vol. 6(9), pp. 2029 - 2035
DOI: 10.13189/ujer.2018.060922
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Latent Profiles of Performance on Certification Testing: The Case of Special Education Teachers in Saudi Arabia

Dimiter M. Dimitrov ¹^,2^,*, Abdullah Alsadaawi ¹^,3
¹ National Center for Assessment, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
² George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, USA
³ King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

This study investigates the performance of special education teacher candidates on key professional standards. Specifically, latent class analysis was used to identify latent (hidden) classes of teacher candidates based on their performance on professional standards measured by the Special Education Teacher Test for teacher certification in Saudi Arabia. The role of teachers' background variables in the formation of such latent classes was also examined. The results led to the retention of four latent profiles of teachers' performance on the targeted professional standards. Among other things, it was also found that the lowest performing latent class is dominated by males and teachers without professional training, whereas the highest performing latent class is dominated by females and teachers with professional training in special education. Implications for the practice and future research are discussed.

KEYWORDS
Latent Class Analysis, Special Education, Teacher Certification

Cite This Paper in IEEE or APA Citation Styles
(a). IEEE Format:
[1] Dimiter M. Dimitrov , Abdullah Alsadaawi , "Latent Profiles of Performance on Certification Testing: The Case of Special Education Teachers in Saudi Arabia," Universal Journal of Educational Research, Vol. 6, No. 9, pp. 2029 - 2035, 2018. DOI: 10.13189/ujer.2018.060922.

(b). APA Format:
Dimiter M. Dimitrov , Abdullah Alsadaawi (2018). Latent Profiles of Performance on Certification Testing: The Case of Special Education Teachers in Saudi Arabia. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 6(9), 2029 - 2035. DOI: 10.13189/ujer.2018.060922.