An independent investigation of the validity of the school attitude assessment survey-revised

Abstract

The psychometric properties of the School Attitude Assessment Survey-Revised (SAAS-R) are examined in a sample of 321 high school students. Students completed the SAAS-R along with measures of school climate, academic self-efficacy, and school satisfaction; school-related behaviors (i.e., attendance and discipline referrals) and academic achievement (i.e., grade point averages) were obtained from school records. Factor analysis procedures support the existence of five factors representing students' academic self-perceptions, attitudes toward teachers, attitudes toward school, motivation and self-regulation, and goal valuation. Criterion-related validity is supported by mean differences on the SAAS-R between groups of students with varying levels of achievement. Convergent validity is supported through correlations in the expected directions between the SAAS-R factors and students' related beliefs about school and indicators of school behavior. Results support the validity of the SAAS-R for use with high school students in general education and college preparatory curriculum programs. © 2008 Sage Publications.