School effectiveness in Sweden: psychometric properties of an instrument to measure pedagogical and social climate (PESOC) focusing on pedagogical leadership

Abstract

Improving school effectiveness is a priority for many countries. The Swedish instrument Pedagogical and Social Climate in School (PESOC) has been widely used for measurement of school improvement. Since pedagogical leadership is an important component of school effectiveness, this study aimed to describe the psychometric properties of the PESOC subscale of pedagogical leadership (PESOC-PLP). Participants were 344 teachers from 30 schools in Karlstad, Sweden. Rasch analysis indicated two subdimensions of the scale, corresponding to academic and social objectives. Analysis showed that the instrument worked invariantly across different sub groups and that the response categories functioned as intended. Small, if any, within-school response dependence was noted. PESOC-PLP may be a useful tool for school leaders when evaluating their success in fulfilling academic and social objectives. Given the global demand for measurement of school leadership, also researchers and educators outside Sweden may have interest in translating and adapting the PESOC-PLP scale.