Construction and psychometric characteristics of the Self-Concept Scale of Interaction in the Classroom

Background: Both construction and psychometric characteristics of a self-concept scale associated with observable behaviors by students and teacher, useful to guide a pedagogic intervention in the classroom are presented. Method: A total of 1,385 primary school students, aged between 8 and 12 years, from 24 high-social vulnerability schools of the Province of Concepcion, Chile, participated in the study. The scale was constructed, including a theoretical review of the construct, pilot application with students and interjudge reliability. For the study of psychometric characteristics, exploratory factorial analysis (EFA), confirmatory factorial analysis (CFA), factorial invariance and recurrent validity were performed. Results: A self-report instrument with 22 items shows a three-factor structure, with an explained variance of 44.71% and a high level of fit for the model. CFA in two different samples showed fit indicators for configural invariance. It also has concurrent validity. Conclusions: The scale has good psychometric properties to assess the academic self-concept in the dimensions of Capacity, Work Procedure, and Participation in class. This can be useful to guide an educational intervention in the context of the teacher-student interaction in the classroom, in primary schools with high socio-economic vulnerability.