Development and Psychometric Validation of a School Physical Accessibility Questionnaire for Inclusive Education

Abstract

This study developed and examined the preliminary psychometric properties of the School Physical Accessibility Questionnaire for Inclusive Education, a 40-item dichotomous instrument assessing accessibility provisions in secondary schools. The questionnaire was organised into eight theoretically derived dimensions: school infrastructure, classroom design, hygiene, sanitation and accessible restrooms and toilets, special learning tools, human resource support, counsellors and support staff, sports and co-curricular activities and teacher efforts towards inclusion. Data were collected from 236 pre-service teacher educators enrolled in the 3-Year Integrated B.Ed.–M.Ed. programme in Odisha, India, who responded with reference to secondary school settings experienced during field exposure, internship, or school-based engagement. Reliability was examined using Cronbach’s alpha and McDonald’s omega; exploratory factor analysis used a polychoric/tetrachoric correlation matrix, minimum residual extraction and oblimin rotation. The full scale showed strong internal consistency (α = .905; ω = .907), while dimension-wise reliability ranged from marginal to good. KMO was .646, Bartlett’s test was significant, FA-based parallel analysis suggested a more complex empirical solution and the theory-driven eight-factor solution explained 67.5% of total variance. Although most items showed meaningful loadings, the presence of cross-loadings and weak fit indices indicates that the structure should be interpreted as exploratory. The questionnaire offers preliminary psychometric evidence for assessing school physical accessibility in inclusive secondary education.