AngularJS: How do you unit test an attribute placed on the HTML

I have the following set up in my unit-test:

'use strict';

describe('Unit Testing the select-backdrop directive', function() {
    var $scope, $compile, $ionicBackdrop;

    beforeEach(module(function($provide) {
        $provide.value($ionicBackdrop, {});
    }));

    beforeEach(inject(function(_$rootScope_, _$compile_, _$ionicBackdrop_) {
        $scope         = _$rootScope_.$new();
        $compile       = _$compile_;
        $ionicBackdrop = _$ionicBackdrop_;

        $scope.items = ['Pizza', 'Gyro', 'Burger'];
        $scope.model = $scope.items[0];
    }));

    it('Should attach a "focus" and "blur" event to a <select> element', function() {
        var element = $compile('<select ng-model="model" ng-options="item for item in items" select-backdrop></select>')($scope);

        $scope.$digest();

        console.log(element.html());

        expect(element.find('option').length).toBe(3);
    });
});

I'm trying to test the select-backdrop directive. However, $compile is returning a list of option instead of the select element. Is there something I'm forgetting to do?