Abstract
Background: There is an increasing evidence of the role that teachers’ educational practices have for students’ school achievement and their well-being. However, there is a lack of valid measures in Spanish to address effective educational practices based on students’ perceptions. In response, this study aims to provide a valid, reliable scale for measuring educational practices in school settings: the Students’ ratings of Teachers’ Educational Practices Scale (STEPS). Methods: We analyzed the scale’s internal consistency and reliability, factor solution and invariance, and criterion validity, by using a multilevel approach in a sample of 2,242 students nested in 104 classrooms from 22 Spanish schools. Results: indicated that the scale exhibited good reliability according to the omega coefficient (within =.86 and between level =.98). The multilevel confirmatory factor analysis (MCFA) revealed a hierarchical factor solution: classroom management, instructional strategies, and students’ engagement as first-order factors, and a general second-order factor labeled as effective educational practices. The scale demonstrated configural invariance by teaching level, sex, and region. Effective educational practices were associated with student self-esteem at the individual level. Conclusions: This study offers a reliable, valid instrument, STEPS, for measuring effective educational practices.
