Validation of the Student Attitudes to School Survey: A Measure for Assessing Students' Socio-Emotional Experiences

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Abstract

In this study, we report on the reliability and validity of the Student Attitudes to School Survey, which has been used extensively in Australian schools to assess the socio-emotional experiences of students. Data were obtained from 263,977 students and 46,706 staff in 1,477 Australian schools. The results of this study supported the a priori factor structure of the SASS, and provided strong empirical evidence to show that the SASS could be used at the individual and school levels of abstraction to measure 11 separate factors that can be grouped into the four broad domains of Student Wellbeing, Teacher Relationships, Student Engagement and Student Relations. The results also showed that strong relationships existed between the views of staff and students.

Authors

• Peter Hart, Deakin University

• Clare Elizabeth Scollay, Insight SRC