Measuring Water Literacy in Middle School Students: A Multidimensional Study Across Regions in Türkiye

This study aimed to develop and validate a reliable instrument for assessing middle school students’ water literacy and to evaluate their water literacy levels across Türkiye. Given the increasing pressure on global and national freshwater resources, understanding middle school students’ water literacy is essential for developing evidence-based educational policies that promote sustainable water use. This study employed an Exploratory Sequential Mixed Methods design. First, a Water Literacy Scale was developed and validated following established instrument-development procedures. The validated scale was subsequently administered to 4252 middle school students from seven regions of Türkiye. Findings revealed that female students scored significantly higher than males in Water Awareness, Behavior Toward Water Issues, and Attitude Toward Water. Grade-level analyses indicated that younger students demonstrated stronger behavioral engagement, whereas older students showed higher cognitive understanding, revealing a gap between knowledge and action. Significant regional differences were observed across all dimensions of water literacy. Overall, the findings suggest that gender, grade level, and regional context influence water literacy and highlight the importance of context-sensitive and sustainability-oriented educational interventions.