School Climate Scale: Adaptation, Validity, and Reliability Study for Middle and High School Students

This study aimed to adapt the School Climate Scale, originally developed by White et al. (2014), into Turkish. The validity and reliability studies of the scale were conducted on two different groups. The first participant group consisted of middle school students, while the second group comprised high school students. In this context, middle and high school students from various schools affiliated with the Ministry of National Education were selected using an appropriate sampling method and included in the study sample. To test whether the structure was confirmed in both sample groups, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was conducted. The CFA results indicated that the obtained values demonstrated a good model fit. The internal consistency coefficients of the School Climate Scale were calculated using Cronbach’s Alpha reliability coefficient. Accordingly, the internal consistency coefficient was found to be .83 for middle school students, .82 for high school students, and .83 for the entire sample. After determining the internal consistency coefficients, the test-retest reliability of the scale was also calculated. The test-retest reliability was found to be .74 for the middle school group, .78 for the high school group, and .77 for the entire sample. As a result of the study, the School Climate Scale was determined to be a valid and reliable measurement tool for assessing middle and high school students.