Decisional Participation Scale – DPS
Measures a teacher's actual and desired rates of participation in school decision-making to identify states of decisional deprivation, equilibrium, or saturation.
Scale Development & Technical Details
Scale Overview
The Decisional Participation Scale – DPS was developed by Joseph A. Alutto, 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 | 1,3,5,7,9,11,13,15,17,19,21,23 | 12 |
| Desired Participation | 2,4,6,8,10,12,14,16,18,20,22,24 | 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 Saturation (Actual participation is greater than desired): -12 – -1
- Decisional Equilibrium (Actual participation equals desired): 0 – 0
- Decisional Deprivation (Actual participation is less than desired): 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 10 minutes to complete. It can be administered individually or in group settings. No special training is required for administration.