The Future of School Climate Studies in the Caribbean with Significance for the Americas: Questions of Construct, Measurement, and Methods

• In Event: The State of School Climate Studies: The Context of the Americas

Abstract

Caribbean scholars Ramdass and Lewis (2012) have proposed a theoretical model for examining school climate in Trinidadian schools. Their work is by no means comprehensive, but rather serves as a springboard for Caribbean scholars to focus keen attention onto school climate and explore (or refute) the validity of their model for the region. In corollary, a few Caribbean scholars have recently developed school climate instruments for this region of the Americas. Less is known however about the construct validity (i.e. appropriate variable representation) and other psychometric properties. This study synthesizes some of the construct validity and psychometric strengths and issues found with these instruments and propose methods for improving their use.

Authors

• Rinnelle Lee-Piggott, University of the West Indies

• Jerome De Lisle, University of the West Indies

• Kenneth A. Williams, SIT Graduate Institute