The Development, Validity, and Reliability Study of Teacher Collaboration Skills Scale

Abstract

Introduction: Collaborative working, one of the good practice examples in special education, is regarded as a beneficial tool for students with disabilities. The collaborative relationship of teachers providing special education services can encourage them to successfully carry out instructional practices in their classrooms and to create a trust-based team model. This study aims to develop the ‘Teacher Collaboration Skills Scale’ (TCSS) to assess teachers' collaborative work providing special education services. Method: The TCSS prepared in line with the study’s purpose was applied to 513 teachers. First, 62 teachers working together in special education schools were reached. In the pilot implementation phase, 157 teachers from 21 provinces of Türkiye attended, and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted. Finally, after revisions, the scale, prepared with online access permission, was completed by 294 teachers from 41 provinces, and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed on the data. Findings: EFA was conducted to test the relationship between items and to determine factors and the items collected under them. As a result, a structure consisting of 22 items with 4 factors was defined. The structure tested with CFA showed a high level of model-data fit. The scale’s reliability calculated by Cronbach’s alpha internal consistency coefficient was .97. Discussion: This scale is a valid and reliable tool for measuring teacher collaboration skills. It can be used to evaluate teachers’ collaborative working skills in special education in Türkiye and will guide the interventions to be developed.