Scale Overview
The School Participant Empowerment Scale (SPES) was developed by Paula M. Short and James S. Rinehart (1992). It is designed to measure Teacher Empowerment. The scale is intended for use with Teachers and school personnel.
Scale Structure
This instrument consists of 38 items organized into 6 factors/subscales: Decision Making, Professional Growth, Status, Self-Efficacy, Autonomy, Impact.
| Factor / Subscale |
Items |
N |
| Decision Making |
1,7,13,17,19,23,24,29,31,33 |
10 |
| Professional Growth |
12,14,25,26,28,38 |
6 |
| Status |
2,3,8,15,21,37 |
6 |
| Self-Efficacy |
4,6,9,20,27,34 |
6 |
| Autonomy |
5,11,30,35 |
4 |
| Impact |
10,16,18,22,32,36 |
6 |
Response Format
Respondents rate each item using a 5-point Likert scale (1 = Strongly Disagree to 5 = Strongly Agree).
Scoring
Items are scored by subscale, with each subscale sum representing a distinct dimension.
Total scores range from 38 to 190. Interpretation guidelines:
- Low Empowerment: 38 – 95
- Moderate Empowerment: 96 – 152
- High Empowerment: 153 – 190
Psychometric Properties
Internal Consistency: The scale has demonstrated good to excellent internal consistency with reported Cronbach’s alpha values of Total scale alpha: 0.94; Decision-making: 0.89; Professional growth: 0.83; Status: 0.86; Self-efficacy: 0.84; Autonomy: 0.81; Impact: 0.82.
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.