Validation of the student version of the Perceptions of Inclusion Questionnaire on a sample of French students

The Perceptions of Inclusion Questionnaire (PIQ) measures emotional well-being at school, social inclusion, and academic self-concept of students aged 9 to 15 years, with and without Special Educational Needs (SEN). This study aimed to validate the PIQ with French students in 6th grade. The sample included 288 students with an average age of 11 years and 4 months. Confirmatory factor analyses supported construct validity of the 3-factors. Correlations with tests already validated in French were between .41 and .60, which demonstrate the convergent validity of the different domains of the PIQ. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability are quite satisfactory (Cronbach's alpha > .70 and r > .73). The strict scalar invariance of the scale was verified according to gender. Furthermore, differential analyses according to gender and the presence of SEN revealed that girls show a slightly higher emotional well-being than boys and that students with SEN have a significantly lower academic self-concept than students without SEN. No other significant differences regarding gender and SEN were found. It was concluded that the French student-version of the PIQ has good psychometric properties and can be used as a simple tool for measuring inclusion of pupils with and without SEN.