Understanding Urban High School Students of Color Motivation to Teach: Validating the FIT-Choice Scale

Abstract

The Factors Influencing Teaching Choice (FIT-Choice) scale was completed by 86 high school students of color prior to beginning a class focusing on motivating students to become interested in teaching. Findings based on confirmatory factor analysis support the underlying FIT-Choice scale factor structure reported in previous studies. Students’ perceptions about teaching and motivations to teach were significantly lower compared with predominantly White female pre-service and in-service teachers for the majority of factors. The high school students of color were most drawn to teaching by their respect for the proficiency required of a good teacher.