The Engaged Teacher Scale (ETS) in Serbian school context: Evidence based on internal structure, reliability, and measurement invariance

The purpose of this paper was to examine the validity and reliability of the Engaged Teacher Scale (ETS) in the Serbian school context. Participants were 629 Serbian primary and secondary school teachers, of which 237 were class teachers and 362 were subject teachers. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis showed that the 16-item ETS is best conceptualized through a second-order model with four first-order factors and a general teacher engagement factor. All three types of metric invariance across teaching levels were achieved, namely configural, metric, and scalar. Analysis of latent mean differences indicated that, in comparison to subject teachers, class teachers achieve significantly higher scores on almost all first-order factors and the general factor. In addition, the scores obtained on the ETS showed good internal consistency. In general, the ETS showed sound metric properties on a sample of teachers in Serbia, has a good theoretical foundation, is a relatively short scale, and therefore has great potential to be used in the assessment of teacher engagement in the Serbian education system.