This study contends that multiple psychosocial factors mediate students’ pursuit of the teaching profession, including beliefs, ethnic identity, acculturation, efficacy, and motivation. Despite the myriad literature addressing teacher characteristics, less is known about how these factors influence the academic or personal development of teacher candidates preparing to teach in diverse classrooms. The authors examined the psychometric properties of the Academic Self-Identity: Self-Observation Yearly (ASI SOY), specifically developed to measure teacher candidates’ psychosocial characteristics. A total of 670 ASI SOY inventories were collected from teacher candidates attending a Hispanic-serving institution. It was found that the ASI SOY is reliable and valid for measuring four out of five proposed constructs. ASI SOY may be useful in identifying the academic, personal, and professional development characteristics of teacher candidates.
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