Measuring Self-Efficacy in Students with and Without Reading Difficulties: A New Scale

Purpose: The main goal of this study was to develop a novel self-efficacy scale in relation to reading skills for several underlying rationales and subsequently, to verify the reliability and validity of the scale for students with reading difficulties (SRD) and without reading difficulties (SWRD), as cohorts and on an individual basis. Methods: The way in which the scale was created, managed, and ranked was described. The study sample encompassed 569 elementary school upper grade pupils from Al Kharj City, Saudi Arabia, of whom 469 had a normal ability to read and 100 experienced issues with reading. Scale validity and reliability were identified by using exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory (CFA) factor analysis, respectively, together with Cronbach’s alpha. Accepted factor loading for each item was determined by EFA; an apposite fit with respect to the multi-factor paradigms with various content-specific domains as associated latent elements was demonstrated by CFA. Data obtained from SWRD and SRD, either in combination or individually, generated an appropriate intrinsic uniformity, as indicated by Cronbach’s alpha evaluation. Findings: The outcomes demonstrated that the scale exhibited satisfactory psychometric characteristics and demonstrated validity and reliability. In addition, it displayed intrinsic uniformity, together with construct, content and convergent reliability when applied to the three cohorts in this study. Implications for Research and Practice: According to the findings, this validated Reading Self-Efficacy Scale can be considered a suitable and helpful scale for researchers, teachers, and experts in measuring the level of reading self-efficacy among students with and without reading difficulties.