The development of a brief measure of school attitude

This article reports on the development of a brief measure of school attitude, validated in a sample of Hong Kong secondary school students. The 9-item scale incorporates the three components of school attitude - cognition, affect, and behavioral intention - into a single measure, and the scores showed high internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the items tap a unidimensional latent construct that is equally valid for boys and girls, and for senior and junior students. The measure can be differentiated from academic achievement and relates to desirable and undesirable behaviors in the expected directions. School attitude was more positive among boys and junior students, and possible explanations are suggested. Future research directions are discussed.