School Climate Assessment Instruments for Middle School and High School Students

Classroom Environment Scale
(Moos, R.H., Trickett, E.J., 1974)
Trickett, E.J. and Moos, R H., Classroom Environment Scale Manual. 3^rd Edition. Consulting Psychologists Press, Palo Alto, CA. 1995.

The CES assesses student perceptions of the learning environment of middle and high school classrooms. (Arter, J., 1989)

Real ®, Ideal (I), and Expectations (E) Forms. ® Form measures current perceptions, (I) Form measures student preferred environment and (E) form measures what students expect the environment will be like. I and E not in published form

® Form comes in “long form” for students and “short form” for teachers (their perceptions of real classroom climate). Long form contains 90 true-false items, which take 20-30 min to complete. Scoring done locally. 5 descriptors based on “If practice actually takes place:” 1-almost never, 2-seldom, 3-sometimes, 4-often, 5-very often.

School Climate Scale Dimensions
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SCALE NAME	SCALE DESCRIPTION	SAMPLE ITEM
INVOLVEMENT	Extent to which students have attentive interest, participate in discussions, do additional work, and enjoy the class.	Students daydream a lot in this class. (-)
AFFILIATION	Extent to which students help each other, get to know each other easily, and enjoy working together.	Students in this class get to know each other well. (+)
TEACHER SUPPORT	Extent to which the teacher helps, befriends, trusts, and is interested in students.	The teacher takes a personal interest in the students. (+)
TASK ORIENTATION	Extent to which it is important to complete activities planned and to stay on the subject matter.	The teacher often takes time out from the lesson plan to talk about other things. (-)
ORDER AND ORGANIZATION	Emphasis on students behaving in an orderly, quiet and polite manner, and on the overall organization of classroom activities.	Assignments are usually clear so everyone knows what to do. (+)
RULE CLARITY	Emphasis on clear rules, on knowing the consequences for rule-breaking, and on the teacher dealing consistently with students who break rules.	There is a clear set of rules for students to follow. (+)

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Reliability

In 1974, reliability on ® form was calculated using sample of 465 HS students in 22 classes in U.S. Reliabilities for subscales ranged from .67 to .86 with 6/9 .80 or above. A later validation study of about 1,100 MS students in Australia calculated individual student and class reliabilities and teacher reliabilities. These were in moderate range of .51-.90 with median (based on 36 reliabilities) of .69.

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Sources/Bibliography

Arter, J.A. Assessing School and Classroom Climate. Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, Portland, OR. 1989.

Fisher, D; Fraser, B.J. Using Short Forms of Several Classroom Environment Scales to Assess and Improve Classroom Psychosocial Environment. Paper presented at Annual Meeting of Nat’l Assoc for Research in Science Teaching. 1985.

Fraser, B. J. Use of Classroom Environment Instruments in Person-Environment Fit Research. Research Report. W. Australian Inst. Of Tech, Perth, AUS. 1983.

Trickett, E.J. and Moos, R H., Classroom Environment Scale Manual. 3^rd Edition. Consulting Psychologists Press, Palo Alto, CA. 1995.

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Cost/Copyright/Availability

Consulting Psychologists Press, Inc. 3803 E. Bayshore Road, Palo Alto, California 94303. Phone: 800-624-1765.

MOOS CES ANS SHT  (#5624) $24.30 pkg of 25
MOOS CES ITEM BKLT  (#5613) $38.20 pkg of 25
MOOS CES MANUAL  (#5601) $64.60 each
MOOS CES SCORING KEY  (#5605) $11.30 each

Preview Kit Cost: $74.80 (includes S/H).

Was developed mainly for research purposes and has been used extensively since (Arter, 1989). Was developed based on view that school climate should be based on consensus of individuals characterizing their environment. Author recommends its use for describing how participants see their environment, comparing perceptions, evaluating environmental change, examining how environment affects student outcomes, use by an outside observer, and moving individuals to settings more congruent with their preferences.

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Compiled by Sarra B. Baraily & Melissa Quon Huber, Michigan State University, (517) 335-7732.
These materials were developed under a grant awarded by the Michigan Department of Education as part of the Michigan Model Partnerships in Character Education.

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