The Assessment of Cognitive Competencies for Mathematics Teachers in Kuwait’s High Schools: A Diagnostic TEXES Test-driven Study

Abstract

This study has been an endeavor aiming at finding out how competent math teachers are in the state of Kuwait at the high school level; this investigation has been pursued via a standardized competencies test known as the Texas Teaching Competencies Test (TTCT) administered to high school math teachers as a sample in Kuwaiti schools. The investigation also sought to find out the relationship between the performance of math teachers on the TTCT and other variables; viz: gender, nationality, experience duration, schooling system, schooling language, teacher’s qualifications, teacher’s specialization, educational district, and teaching grades. The sample comprised 54 teachers of both genders who teach math for high school students in Kuwait. The researcher used the TTCT after having been validated and assessed for reliability and consistency as a valid instrument for the status of Kuwait. Data gathered have been appropriately statistically treated using t-test, Multivariate General Linear Model of ANOVA, the Schéfe Multivariate Comparisons statistical follow-up test, and correlation co-efficient. Findings of the study indicate that the TTCT as applied to Kuwaiti math teachers is a highly valid and reliable Arabic version to check their status of competency. As well, the study revealed that there is a relationship between the teachers’ performance on the TTCT and some of the variables investigated.