Measuring Turkish inclusive preschool teachers’ instructional adaptation practices: scale development and validation

Instructional adaptations, a strategy of inclusive teaching, support the developmental and learning achievements of children with diverse needs. This study aims to develop and validate the Inclusive Preschool Teachers’ Instructional Adaptation Scale, which is based on the differentiated instruction and universal design for learning frameworks. The scale measures the instructional adaptations that teachers make to the learning environment, materials, learning content, processes and products in inclusive preschool classrooms. The study was conducted with 374 preschool teachers working in inclusive preschool classrooms. In the analysis of the scale data, a polychoric correlation matrix, the ordinary least squares technique, and the oblimin rotation method were used in the exploratory factor analysis. In the confirmatory factor analysis, the WLSMV estimation method was employed. Reliability was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha and McDonald’s omega coefficients. The analyses revealed a 16-item structure with two factors, namely environmental adaptations and learning adaptations. The findings demonstrated that the Inclusive Preschool Teachers’ Instructional Adaptations Scale is a valid and reliable measurement tool that can provide meaningful results. In addition, teachers’ participation in training on instructional adaptations was found to have a significant effect on their use of adaptations.