Examining the Structural Validity of the My Class Inventory – Short Form for Teachers (TMCI-SF) in Early Elementary School Classrooms

Abstract

There has been an increased interest among researchers, policymakers, and educators in climate as an indicator of the health and functioning of a school. Climate is a complex, multidimensional construct that can be examined at the school, classroom, and individual levels. There are currently few open-access, brief measures of classroom climate, and previous research focused predominantly on upper elementary and secondary school settings. The primary purpose of the current study was to conduct a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of the My Class Inventory – Short Form for Teachers (TMCI-SF), which is a 30-item, five factor measure of classroom climate, when used with early elementary school teachers. Results of the CFA indicated that a revised 14-item, three factor TMCI-SF best fit the data. The revised TMCI-SF was used to examine the relationship between classroom climate and students’ social, emotional, and behavioral wellbeing, as measured by the Devereux Student Strengths Assessment – Second Step® Edition (DESSA-SSE), the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), and the two direct observation variables (academic engagement and disruptive behavior). Results of hierarchical linear regression (HLR) analyses indicated that there were statistically significant relationships between the revised scales of the TMCI-SF and the DESSA-SSE scales, SDQ scales, and DBO variables. Finally, classroom climate was treated as an outcome to examine whether it changed as a function of the implementation of social-emotional learning (SEL) curriculum. Results indicated no significant changes as a result of the function of SEL implementation. Implications of the results, limitations of the study, and future directions are discussed.