Developing a situational judgement test for admission into initial teacher education in Oman: An exploratory study

In Oman, applicants are selected for initial teacher education programs (ITEPs) based mainly on their academic achievements. Applicants’ non-cognitive attributes (NCAs) (e.g., resilience and motivation) receive less attention. Situational judgment tests (SJTs) are a type of simulation test that are used in the candidate selection process for different professions. We aim to (a) develop an SJT for selecting ITEP applicants in Oman, (b) explore its psychometric properties, and (c) explore applicants’ reactions to the test. There were four study phases. Phase 1 used a multi-step design to explore the NCAs’ underlying teacher effectiveness. Phase 2 used these NCAs to develop an SJT with working teachers (N = 116). The developed SJT was initially piloted in Phase 3 with new ITEP candidates (N = 171) and was then piloted with other criterion measures in Phase 4 (N = 142). Results demonstrated good SJT internal consistency (α = .75). SJT scores correlated significantly with scores on two facets of the Big Five personality measure (i.e., conscientiousness and agreeableness). Additionally, SJT scores were positively correlated with participants’ GPA, but not with their interview scores. Participants’ reactions to the SJT were positive. With further research, SJTs could prove helpful for selecting teachers in Oman.