Scale Adaptation and Validation to Assess the Development of 21st Century Skills in Secondary School Students

Objective. This research aims to modify and validate a scale for assessing students' perceptions of pedagogical practices employed in classrooms to foster 21st-century skills. Methods. The WVDE-CIS-28 scale, originally designed for teachers, was adapted and administered through a survey to a sample of 3432 high school students from 26 schools in the Biobio region, Chile. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were conducted to determine the number of underlying dimensions and verify whether the proposed theoretical model with 8 dimensions showed a significant statistical adjustment. Results. The validation analyzes of the scale confirmed the factorial structure of the original instrument, which comprised the dimensions of critical thinking, collaboration, communication, creativity and innovation, self-direction, global relations, local relations, and the use of learning technologies. The study presents the factor loading tables and model fit indices for EFA and CFA, as well as descriptive results categorized by item and dimension. Conclusions. The adaptation of the instrument demonstrates an adequate psychometric adjustment, explaining how the 8 dimensions considered contribute to the 21st-century skills construct. This tool can be useful to investigate how classroom pedagogical practices promote the development of these essential skills.