Psychometric Properties of an Instrument to Measure Social and Pedagogical School Climate Among Teachers (PESOC)

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the psychometric properties of a teacher-reported version of a Swedish school climate instrument called the Pedagogical and Social Climate (PESOC), which consists of 95 items covering cultural, structural and social factors. A sample of 348 teachers from 19 Swedish secondary schools was used. Multilevel confirmatory factor analysis conducted within a structural equation modelling framework indicated that the PESOC had a two-factor structure at the teacher level and a one-factor at the school level. The PESOC’s convergent validity was supported by the school-level correlations between PESOC and another established instrument (i.e., the Team Climate Inventory). Further validation studies of PESOC are needed with larger, more representative samples, and with information on important outcomes such as student achievement and wellbeing.

KEYWORDS:

• School climate
• teachers
• psychometric analyses
• multilevel confirmatory factor analysis

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This paper was supported by the Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research, the Swedish Research Council, the Swedish Research Council Formas, and the Swedish Innovation Agency Vimove in the form of a joint grant (number: 259-2012-48).