title: Preliminary development of a revised version of the School Climate Measure.
abstract: The School Climate Measure (SCM) was developed and preliminarily validated in 2010 and extended upon in 2013 in response to a dearth of psychometrically sound school climate instruments. This study sought to further validate the SCM on a large diverse sample of Arizona public school adolescents (N = 1,643) with two new domains. The eight original SCM domains (Positive Student-Teacher Relationships, School Connectedness, Academic Support, Order and Discipline, Physical Environment, Social Environment, Perceived Exclusion, and Academic Satisfaction) and two newly developed domains (Parental Involvement and Opportunities for Student Engagement) were subjected to psychometric analysis. The sample was randomly split into exploratory and confirmatory halves and subjected to factor analytic and structural equation modeling techniques. Factor analysis confirmed a 10-factor solution (loadings with absolute values > .40). Item factor loadings ranged from .47 to .95. Coefficient alphas ranged from .70 to .92. Fit statistics indicated a good fitting model (χ2 = 1452.67 [df = 734, p < .01], CFI = .94, TLI = .93, RMSEA = .039). This process eliminated some original SCM items, but the overall SCM increased only from 39 to 42 items with the newly developed domains. This investigation adds to the existing evidence for the SCM and offers support for a more comprehensive version of the SCM. The addition of the Parental Involvement and Opportunities for Student Engagement domains should further enhance the usefulness of the SCM. The SCM can facilitate data-driven decisions and may be incorporated into evidenced-based processes designed to improve important student learning and well-being outcomes.
authors: Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, School of Public Health, West Virginia University.
authors: Keith J
authors: KJ
authors: Zullig
authors: School Safety and Prevention, Arizona Department of Education.
authors: Rani
authors: R
authors: Collins
authors: Arizona Department of Education.
authors: Nadia
authors: N
authors: Ghani
authors: Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, West Virginia University.
authors: Amy A
authors: AA
authors: Hunter
authors: Miami University.
authors: Jon M
authors: JM
authors: Patton
authors: School Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of South Carolina.
authors: E Scott
authors: ES
authors: Huebner
authors: Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, West Virginia University.
authors: Jianjun
authors: J
authors: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D004777:Environment; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D015279:Organizational Culture; D010290:Parents; D010465:Perception; D011594:Psychometrics; D011897:Random Allocation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D000070777:School Teachers; D012574:Schools / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012931:Social Environment; D013334:Students; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires