School Participant Empowerment Scale

Abstract

The School Participant Empowerment Scale (SPES) is a refined 38-item psychological instrument developed by Short and Rinehart (1992). Its primary function is to quantify the level of school participant (specifically teacher) empowerment within educational settings. The scale is designed to assess multiple dimensions crucial to professional agency, including structures for involvement, communication, trust, and risk-taking.

Furthermore, the SPES measures critical empowering job aspects such as opportunities for decision-making, control over daily professional schedules, and opportunities for growth and development. The instrument is highly reliable and validated across six distinct factors, making it a valuable tool for organizational and educational research.

Keywords

Teacher empowerment, psychological scale, decision making, professional growth, self-efficacy, autonomy, school administration, organizational commitment, reliability, validity

Authors

Short, P. M., and Rinehart, J. S.

Purpose

The core purpose of the SPES is to provide a standardized, quantifiable measure of how empowered teachers feel within their schools. This measurement is critical for educational leadership research aimed at understanding the relationship between organizational structure and teacher agency.

The instrument captures several critical themes that define professional empowerment, including the presence of structures that facilitate involvement, the perceived quality of communication and trust among colleagues and administrators, and the willingness of the environment to support risk-taking and address critical incidents. By quantifying these elements, the SPES assists researchers and practitioners in diagnosing areas where administrative support or structural reform may be necessary to enhance teacher job satisfaction and commitment.

Construct

The School Participant Empowerment Scale measures the multi-dimensional construct of teacher empowerment, defined here as the sense of professional efficacy and control experienced by educators within their workplace. The construct encompasses both structural components (e.g., involvement in budget or curriculum decisions) and psychological components (e.g., self-efficacy and impact).

Initial item generation involved qualitative data collection, where teachers were asked to list specific behaviors or circumstances that made them feel empowered. This process yielded 110 initial items, which were later refined based on existing literature and previous research concerning empowerment theory, resulting in a robust set of components reflecting professional agency and control. The final instrument focuses on six primary factors: Decision Making, Professional Growth, Status, Self-Efficacy, Autonomy, and Impact.

Validity

The validity of the SPES was established through rigorous psychometric procedures, beginning with content validity. A panel of four expert judges reviewed the original pool of items, rating their overall representativeness of the teacher empowerment construct. Through this expert review, 68 items achieved general agreement, forming the basis for subsequent statistical validation.

The final determination of construct validity was achieved through factor analysis, which retained a final, refined set of 38 items distributed across six distinct factors. This procedure provided strong empirical evidence that the scale measures the intended multi-faceted construct of teacher empowerment.

Reliability

The internal consistency reliability of the School Participant Empowerment Scale was demonstrated using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. The total 38-item scale exhibited excellent internal consistency, yielding an alpha coefficient of 0.94.

Furthermore, the internal consistency was strong across all six derived subscales, indicating that each dimension reliably measures its intended facet of teacher empowerment. The coefficients for the subscales are:

• Decision-Making: 0.89
• Professional Growth: 0.83
• Status: 0.86
• Self-Efficacy: 0.84
• Autonomy: 0.81
• Impact: 0.82

Factor Analysis

The structural integrity of the SPES was confirmed using a principal component analysis followed by an oblique rotation. This procedure was executed on the 68-item instrument that survived the initial content validity screening. The analysis aimed to identify the underlying dimensions of teacher empowerment as perceived by the sample population.

To ensure high factor purity, only items exhibiting a factor loading of 0.600 or higher were retained on the factor. This rigorous selection process resulted in the final 38-item scale, organized into six distinct factors which collectively accounted for approximately 51 percent of the common variance. The six dimensions produced by the factor analysis are:

1. Decision Making (10 items)
2. Professional Growth (6 items)
3. Status (6 items)
4. Self-Efficacy (6 items)
5. Autonomy (4 items)
6. Impact (6 items)

Instrument

Test Type: Self-Report Questionnaire / Psychometric Scale

Format: 5-point Likert scale (1 = Strongly Disagree; 2 = Disagree; 3 = Neutral; 4 = Agree; 5 = Strongly Agree)

Language Available: English (Original development language)

Population Group: Educational Professionals (Teachers)

Age Group: Adult (Secondary School Teachers)

Population Details: The initial standardization sample consisted of 211 secondary school teachers drawn from high schools across three U.S. geographic regions (South, Southwest, and Midwest). The size of the participating schools ranged from 70 to 125 teachers.

Test Methodology: The scale measures perceived levels of empowerment across six dimensions: decision making, professional growth, status, self-efficacy, autonomy, and impact.

Keywords

Teacher agency, organizational change, school climate, Cronbach’s alpha, factor loading, oblique rotation, secondary education, school reform

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: N/A

Affiliation Email addresses: N/A

Correspondence Address: Auburn University (1992)

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The scale was developed and documented in 1992 by Short and Rinehart. The original documentation was distributed internally as a Mimeo by Auburn University. Information regarding current permissions and associated fees for research or commercial use must be sought directly from the authors or the institution.

Reference’s

Short, P. M., and Rinehart, J. S. (1992). School Participant Empowerment Scale. Auburn University. Mimeo.

Hynes, J. (2004). The relationship between the dimensions of teacher empowerment and principal’s job satisfaction in elementary accelerated schools. PhD dissertation, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.

Keiser, C. M. (2007). The relationship between teacher empowerment and organizational commitment. EdD dissertation, University of Virginia.

Linter, J. D. (2008). The relationship between teacher empowerment and principal use of power. EdD dissertation, Auburn University.

Perkins, A. (2006). The relationship between social structure and sense of empowerment for school personnel. PhD dissertation, Michigan State University.

Watts, D. M. (2009). Enabling school structure, mindfulness, and teacher empowerment: Test of a theory. EdD dissertation, University of Alabama.

Items of the School Participant Empowerment Scale

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

1. I am given the responsibility to monitor programs.
2. I function in a professional environment.
3. I believe that I have earned respect.
4. I believe that I am helping kids become independent learners.
5. I have control over daily schedules.
6. I believe that I have the ability to get things done.
7. I make decisions about the implementation of new programs in the school.
8. I am treated as a professional.
9. I believe that I am very effective.
10. I believe that I am empowering students.
11. I am able to teach as I choose.
12. I participate in staff development.
13. I make decisions about the selection of other teachers for my school.
14. I have the opportunity for professional growth.
15. I have the respect of my colleagues.
16. I feel that I am involved in an important program for children.
17. I have the freedom to make decisions on what is taught.
18. I believe that I am having an impact.
19. I am involved in school budget decisions.
20. I work at a school where kids come first.
21. I have the support and respect of my colleagues.
22. I see students learn.
23. I make decisions about curriculum.
24. I am a decision maker.
25. I am given the opportunity to teach other teachers.
26. I am given the opportunity to continue learning.
27. I have a strong knowledge base in the areas in which I teach.
28. I believe that I have the opportunity to grow by working daily with students.
29. I perceive that I have the opportunity to influence others.
30. I can determine my own schedule.
31. I have the opportunity to collaborate with other teachers in my school.
32. I perceive that I am making a difference.
33. Principals, other teachers, and school personnel solicit my advice.
34. I believe that I am good at what I do.
35. I can plan my own schedule.
36. I perceive that I have an impact on other teachers and students.
37. My advice is solicited by others.
38. I have an opportunity to teach other teachers about innovative ideas.