Application of Graded Response Model in the Development and Validation of Teachers' Job Satisfaction Scale in Rivers State, Nigeria

The study examined application of graded response model in the development and validation of teachers’ job satisfaction scale in Rivers State.  Instrumentation research design was used for the study. Three research questions guided the study. The population consisted of 7,619 senior secondary school teachers in Rivers State. The sample of the study was 650 teachers drawn using multi-stage sampling technique. The instrument for data collection was self-designed graded questions titled: ''Teachers Job Satisfaction Scale” (TJSS). The instrument was validated by experts in Measurement and Evaluation, Department of Educational Psychology, Guidance and Counselling, Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Port Harcourt. The reliability of the instrument was established using Cronbach Alpha reliability method for internal consistency of the items. The instrument yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.82. R-software, Jamovi and Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) were used for data analysis of the research questions. The result of the data analysis showed that: the four sub-scales (welfare, work condition, supervision and interpersonal relationship) produced only one significant factor represented by a greater than one (> 1) eigen value of the first component while, the succeeding components were below one. Based on the findings of the study, the instrument is recommended for standardization to measure teachers’ job satisfaction among public school teachers in the southern part of Nigeria, scale should be re-validated employing private and public secondary school teachers in Rivers State.