Development of a Self-Efficacy Scale for Arabic Reading Comprehension Among High School Students

Abstract

This study aimed to develop a self-efficacy scale to assess high school students’ perceived competence in Arabic reading comprehension. Accordingly, a draft version of the “High School Students’ Self-Efficacy Scale for Arabic Reading Comprehension” was constructed as a 5-point Likert-type instrument. Following expert evaluations (n = 8), the initial pool of 46 items was reduced to a 23-item trial form based on content validity analysis. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted with data from 210 students, while confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed with a separate sample of 473 students. In this study, EFA and CFA were performed on separate samples. While this is methodologically appropriate, it may have constrained the model’s fit. Moreover, the use of an all-male sample for the EFA presents a potential limitation in terms of demographic diversity. EFA results indicated a unidimensional structure. The CFA results demonstrated acceptable model fit indices (RMSEA = 0.06, χ2/df = 2.59, GFI = 0.87, CFI = 0.95), confirming the construct validity of the scale. The internal consistency of the scale was found to be high, with a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of .957. Although the scale demonstrated strong psychometric properties, the absence of gender diversity in the EFA sample and the lack of subsequent invariance testing are acknowledged as limitations. Nevertheless, despite these constraints, the developed scale represents a valuable tool for educators, researchers, and curriculum developers aiming to assess high school students’ self-efficacy in Arabic reading comprehension.