Decisional Participation Scale – DPS
Measures a teacher's actual and desired rates of participation in school decision-making to identify decisional deprivation, equilibrium, or saturation.
Scale Development & Technical Details
Scale Overview
The Decisional Participation Scale – DPS was developed by Joseph A. Alutto and James A. Belasco (1972). It is designed to measure Decisional Participation. The scale is intended for use with Teachers and school faculty.
Scale Structure
This instrument consists of 24 items organized into 2 factors/subscales: Actual Participation, Desired Participation.
| Factor / Subscale | Items | N |
|---|---|---|
| Actual Participation | 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12 | 12 |
| Desired Participation | 13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24 | 12 |
Response Format
Respondents rate each item using a dichotomous Yes/No format.
Scoring
Items are scored by subscale, with each subscale sum representing a distinct dimension.
Total scores range from -12 to 12. Interpretation guidelines:
- Decisional Deprivation (Current participation is less than preferred): -12 – -1
- Decisional Equilibrium (Current participation matches preferred): 0 – 0
- Decisional Saturation (Current participation is greater than preferred): 1 – 12
Psychometric Properties
Internal Consistency: The scale has demonstrated good to excellent internal consistency with reported Cronbach’s alpha values of Test-retest reliability > 0.80.
Administration
The scale is self-administered and typically takes approximately 8 minutes to complete. It can be administered individually or in group settings. No special training is required for administration.