Measuring perceptions of school learning environments for younger learners
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Measuring perceptions of school learning environments for younger learners Leon J. Gilman1 · Bo Zhang2 · Curtis J. Jones1 Received: 30 September 2019 / Accepted: 22 June 2020 © Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract Students’ perceptions of the learning environment play an important role in their academic achievement and social lives. While most measures of school environment have been developed for middle- and high-school students, they also have been used for younger students, such as 4th and 5th graders. What is unclear is whether these measures are actually valid enough for younger student populations. We investigated whether the measurement invariance of one such measure, the popular 5Essentials of School Culture and Climate Survey, holds for younger learners and middle-school students. Results showed that not all measurement invariances hold across younger (4th and 5th grade) and older learners (7th grade). Moreover, half of the survey questions show differential item functioning (DIF). Findings from this study suggest that younger and older students could perceive school learning environments differently. Accordingly, cautions should be exercised when comparing younger and older students’ perceptions. Keywords Confirmatory factor analysis · Differential item functioning · Measurement invariance · School learning environment
Introduction Most studies involving measuring school learning environments have focused on middle- and high-school students perceptions (Bradshaw et al. 2014; Lee et al. 2017). Little attention has been paid to measuring such perceptions of younger learners, such as 4th and 5th graders. While one can question the overall validity of studying school learning environments for students that young, children do develop a sense of the learning environment at a very early age (Ziv and Frye 2004; Ziv et al. 2008). Regardless, systematically studying younger learners’ perception of their learning
* Leon J. Gilman [email protected] 1
Socially Responsible Evaluation in Education, 161 W. Wisconsin Ave, #6270, Milwaukee, WI 53203, USA
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Department of Educational Psychology, School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI 53201, USA
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Vol.:(0123456789)
Learning Environments Research
environment could provide valuable information on how they form and handle their relationships with peers, teachers and other aspects of school life. One challenge in studying these younger learners, though, lies in measurement. Over the years, numerous instruments have been developed to measure school learning environments by defining it as school culture or school climate. These instruments include 5Essentials of School Culture and Climate Survey (Bryk et al. 2010), US Department of Education School Climate Survey (Bradshaw et al. 2014) and California School Climate and Safety Survey (Furlong et al. 2005). Almost all of these instruments focus on middle- and high-school students. Even when younger learners are the target population, measures developed for older students are often u
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