Validation of the Index for Inclusion Questionnaire for Compulsory Secondary Education Students

• Main Authors: José A. Fernández-Archilla, Joaquín F. Álvarez, José M. Aguilar-Parra, Rubén Trigueros, Isabel D. Alonso-López, Gerardo Echeita
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-03-01
• Series: Sustainability
• Subjects: inclusive education; attention to diversity; student body; validation; factorial analysis
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/6/2169

As one of the protagonists in education, the perspective of the students is fundamental in the determination of inclusive education in an educational center. The Index for Inclusion is an instrument and strategy for self-evaluation. One of their questionnaires, the questionnaire for compulsory secondary education students, is intended for students and has become one of the most used instruments to help teaching teams to self-assess their political and practical cultures from the perspective of the values and principles of educational inclusion worldwide. Some of the questionnaires included in the Index have been used in many studies, mainly in a qualitative way. For this reason, the present study intends to show evidence of validity of the Index for Inclusion questionnaire of students in a quantitative way through an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). In this study, 727 secondary school students (359 boys and 368 girls) aged between 13 and 19 years (<i>M</i> = 13.89; <i>SD</i> = 1.35) took part. They belonged to six educational centers in the province of Almeria. To analyze the temporal stability of the Index for Inclusion student questionnaire, a second independent sample of 81 secondary school students was used, aged between 15 and 18 years (<i>M</i>= 16.14; <i>SD</i> = 0.78). The results revealed adequate adjustment rates, showing the invariant structure with respect to gender. The Student Inclusion Index was shown to be a robust and adequate psychometric instrument to assess the degree of development of inclusive education in schools from the perspective of secondary school students, and therefore, its future application to students in schools is recommended.