Out With the Old, In With the New: Factor Analyses of a Classroom Environment Measure

Abstract

Several instruments have been developed to gauge student perceptions of their classroom environment as greater attention has been given to the relationship between student achievement and student perceptions. One widely used instrument to assess those perceptions is the Classroom Environment Scale (CES), a 90-item measure for secondary level students that captures several dimensions of the classroom environment. However, psychometric analyses of this instrument are old and limited in conclusions. In order to update and reexamine the psychometric properties of the instrument, a sample of 1,207 middle school students were administered the CES. In a confirmatory factor analysis to test the model the instrument creators posited, model fit was poor. Subsequent exploratory and new confirmatory factor analyses were performed that produced more defensible results. The current study posits a new structure and model for the instrument with implications for potential users.