Physical and Sensory Classroom Environment and Associations with Inclusive Education of Autistic Students in Chile: Construction, Validation and Results of a Teacher-Reported Scale

A positive learning environment is related not only to student outcomes but also to inclusion of diverse learners. Although the literature on inclusive learning environments depicts physical and sensory elements as relevant, there is a need to improve measurements to include not only objective measures but also end users’ valuations of these elements. This study sought to construct and validate the Physical and Sensorial Classroom Environment Scale (PSCES) and understand, from teachers’ perspectives, the associations between classroom environment and inclusive educational indicators of autistic students in Chilean mainstream schools. The instrument’s validation process involved expert judges, a pilot test, and exploratory factor analysis with 197 Chilean teachers and education professionals. The second phase examined the relationship between physical and sensory classroom environment and indicators of inclusive education—permanence in classroom, social interaction, learning progress, classroom well-being, and sense of belonging—among 123 autistic students in the first to fourth grade in mainstream schools. Results showed that the 34-item scale showed excellent internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = 0.945, McDonald’s ω = 0.936), with seven factors explaining 61% of the total variance. A significant positive correlation (r = 0.487, p < 0.001) was found between better classroom conditions and improved educational inclusion, suggesting that as the factors measured by the scale increased, the overall perception of inclusion also increased. The coefficient of determination (R2 = 0.312) indicated that about 31% of variability in teachers’ perceptions of autistic educational inclusion was explained by classroom environment factors, particularly student agency and personalization, alternative arrangements, spatial organization, and sensory conditions. This study contributes to understanding how the physical and sensory classroom environment can foster educational inclusion for all learners, particularly for diverse autistic learners.