Multicultural School Climate Inventory (MSCI)
Measures students' perceptions of school climate across dimensions of school liking, educator-student relationships, cultural relevancy, and school success.
Scale Development & Technical Details
Scale Overview
The Multicultural School Climate Inventory (MSCI) was developed by Sherry Marx & Deborah Byrnes (2012). It is designed to measure Multicultural School Climate. The scale is intended for use with School-aged students.
Scale Structure
This instrument consists of 22 items organized into 4 factors/subscales: Liking School, Educator-Student Relationships, Cultural Relevancy, School Success.
| Factor / Subscale | Items | N |
|---|---|---|
| Liking School | 1,2,3,4,5,7 | 6 |
| Educator-Student Relationships | 12,13,14,15 | 4 |
| Cultural Relevancy | 9,16,17,18,19,20,21 | 7 |
| School Success | 6,8,10,11,22 | 5 |
Response Format
Respondents rate each item using a custom response format.
Response anchors: 1 = Strongly Agree, 2 = Agree, 3 = Don't have an opinion, 4 = Disagree, 5 = Strongly Disagree.
Scoring
Items are scored by subscale, with each subscale sum representing a distinct dimension.
Total scores range from 1 to 5. Interpretation guidelines:
- Positive perception of school climate: 1 – 2
- Neutral perception of school climate: 3 – 3
- Negative perception of school climate: 4 – 5
Psychometric Properties
Internal Consistency: The scale has demonstrated good to excellent internal consistency with reported Cronbach’s alpha values of Liking School (0.86), Educator-Student Relationships (0.91), Cultural Relevancy (0.83), School Success (0.81).
Administration
The scale is self-administered and typically takes approximately 10 minutes to complete. It can be administered individually or in group settings. No special training is required for administration.