Adaptation and preliminary validation evidences of the School Climate Questionnaire – Revised, Elementary and Middle School Version (SCS-MS)

Abstract

This study presents the procedures for adapting the School Climate Survey – Revised, Elementary and Middle School Version (SCS-MS) to the Brazilian context and demonstrates the first evidence of the validity of its use among elementary school students. Participants were 511 children (52,1 % girls) from Porto Alegre, between 3rd and 5th grade. Analysis of internal validity was performed by evaluating the factor structure of the instrument, and analysis of convergent validity by testing the correlation between the SCS-MS, social skills and childhood peer aggression. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and an exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) analysis were conducted. The results indicated that the structure provided in the ESEM analysis were more adequate than the original structure for this sample. ESEM provided satisfactory indices of fit for the model of six factors, including modifications in four factors. The overall score of the SCS-MS showed positive and moderate correlations with social skills and negative and moderate correlations with peer aggression. The results suggest that the SCS-MS is a measure that can be used to assess the students’ perception of school climate in Brazilian schools, contributing to overcome the shortage of instruments in this context