Scale Overview
The Faculty Change Orientation Scale – FCOS was developed by S. Kearney & P. A. Smith (2008). It is designed to measure School Change Orientation. The scale is intended for use with School faculty and administrators.
Scale Structure
This instrument consists of 19 items organized into 3 factors/subscales: Faculty openness to change, Principal openness to change, Community press for change.
| Factor / Subscale |
Items |
N |
| Faculty openness to change |
1,2,5,6,8,10,13,14,15 |
9 |
| Principal openness to change |
3,7,9,11,12,19 |
6 |
| Community press for change |
4,16,17,18 |
4 |
Response Format
Respondents rate each item using a custom response format.
Response anchors: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Somewhat Disagree, 4 = Somewhat Agree, 5 = Agree, 6 = Strongly Agree.
The scale includes 9 reverse-scored items to reduce acquiescence bias.
Scoring
Items are scored by subscale, with each subscale sum representing a distinct dimension.
Total scores range from 19 to 114. Interpretation guidelines:
- Low Change Orientation: 19 – 57
- Moderate Change Orientation: 58 – 85
- High Change Orientation: 86 – 114
Psychometric Properties
Internal Consistency: The scale has demonstrated good to excellent internal consistency with reported Cronbach’s alpha values of Faculty openness: 0.95, Principal openness: 0.87, Community press: 0.87.
Administration
The scale is self-administered and typically takes approximately 5 minutes to complete. It can be administered individually or in group settings. No special training is required for administration.