Profile of a School – POS
Measures perceptions of school climate, leadership, communication, decision-making, and goal-setting among school system members.
Scale Development & Technical Details
Scale Overview
The Profile of a School – POS was developed by Rensis Likert (1980). It is designed to measure Organizational Climate and Leadership. The scale is intended for use with Teachers, administrators, and school staff.
Scale Structure
This instrument consists of 65 items organized into 11 factors/subscales: Teacher-Student Interaction, Trust, Communication, Decision-Making, Influence, School Climate, Principal Leadership, Principal-Teacher Interaction, Peer Interaction, Motivation, Goal Setting.
| Factor / Subscale | Items | N |
|---|---|---|
| Teacher-Student Interaction | 1,2,5,10,20 | 5 |
| Trust | 3,4,27,28 | 4 |
| Communication | 6,7,17,18,19,29,49,50,51 | 9 |
| Decision-Making | 8,9,15,32,40,41,43,56,57,58,61 | 11 |
| Influence | 11,12,13,14,34,35,36,37,38,39 | 10 |
| School Climate | 16,21,22,23,24,25,48,55 | 8 |
| Principal Leadership | 26,42,44,45,46,47,52,59,60 | 9 |
| Principal-Teacher Interaction | 30,53 | 2 |
| Peer Interaction | 31,54 | 2 |
| Motivation | 33 | 1 |
| Goal Setting | 62,63,64,65 | 4 |
Response Format
Respondents rate each item using a custom response format.
Response anchors: 1 = Very Little (1), 2 = Very Little (2), 3 = Some (3), 4 = Some (4), 5 = Considerable (5), 6 = Considerable (6), 7 = Very Great (7), 8 = Very Great (8).
The scale includes 1 reverse-scored items to reduce acquiescence bias.
Scoring
Item scores are averaged to produce a mean score.
Total scores range from 1 to 8. Interpretation guidelines:
- System 1: Exploitive-Authoritative: 1 – 2
- System 2: Benevolent-Authoritative: 2 – 4
- System 3: Consultative: 4 – 6
- System 4: Participative Group: 6 – 8
Psychometric Properties
Internal Consistency: The scale has demonstrated good to excellent internal consistency with reported Cronbach’s alpha values of 0.90-0.95.
Administration
The scale is self-administered and typically takes approximately 20 minutes to complete. It can be administered individually or in group settings. No special training is required for administration.