Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale
TSESPermission: Free for research use. Free for non-commercial academic research, with no licence fee. Cite the original publication.
A 24-item measure (also a 12-item short form) of teachers' self-efficacy across three domains: student engagement, instructional strategies, and classroom management.
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Reliability & validation
Subscales
Scoring
- Efficacy in Student Engagement
- Mean of items 1, 2, 4, 6, 9, 12, 14, 22
- Efficacy in Instructional Strategies
- Mean of items 7, 10, 11, 17, 18, 20, 23, 24
- Efficacy in Classroom Management
- Mean of items 3, 5, 8, 13, 15, 16, 19, 21
- Score range
- 1–9
- Reverse-keyed items
- None
Item groupings are for the 24-item long form. The developers advise running a factor analysis on your own sample, as the groupings can vary slightly.
Response anchors
Nothing · 2 · Very Little · 4 · Some Influence · 6 · Quite A Bit · 8 · A Great Deal
Known limitations
The three factors are highly correlated and less stable with preservice teachers; the long (24-item) and short (12-item) forms are not always interchangeable.
Original citation
Tschannen-Moran, M., & Woolfolk Hoy, A. (2001). Teacher efficacy: Capturing an elusive construct. Teaching and Teacher Education, 17(7), 783-805.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0742-051X(01)00036-1Questions researchers ask
What does the TSES measure?
A 24-item measure (also a 12-item short form) of teachers' self-efficacy across three domains: student engagement, instructional strategies, and classroom management.
How many items does the TSES have?
The Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES) has 24 items across 3 subscales: Efficacy in Student Engagement, Efficacy in Instructional Strategies, Efficacy in Classroom Management.
Is the TSES free to use?
The TSES is free to use for non-commercial academic research. You don't need to pay a license fee, but you should always cite the original publication.
Is the TSES reliable?
Validation studies report Cronbach's α of 0.94. See the reliability section for the population studied and full statistics.
Who developed the TSES, and how do I cite it?
Tschannen-Moran, M., & Woolfolk Hoy, A. (2001). Teacher efficacy: Capturing an elusive construct. Teaching and Teacher Education, 17(7), 783-805. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0742-051X(01)00036-1
How do you score the TSES?
Efficacy in Student Engagement: Mean of items 1, 2, 4, 6, 9, 12, 14, 22. Efficacy in Instructional Strategies: Mean of items 7, 10, 11, 17, 18, 20, 23, 24. Efficacy in Classroom Management: Mean of items 3, 5, 8, 13, 15, 16, 19, 21. Score range 1–9. Reverse-keyed items: None.
Related scales
Library entry verified September 2026. Metadata is provided for reference; item wording is available inside Folio Surveyor, subject to each instrument's licensing.