Teacher Support Scale – TSS
Measures students' perceptions of social and academic support provided by their teaching staff in general.
Scale Development & Technical Details
Scale Overview
The Teacher Support Scale – TSS was developed by Metheny, McWhirter, & O’Neil (2008). It is designed to measure Perceived Teacher Support. The scale is intended for use with Students (adolescents and young adults).
Scale Structure
This instrument consists of 21 items organized into 4 factors/subscales: Expectation, Interested, Accessible, Positive Regard.
| Factor / Subscale | Items | N |
|---|---|---|
| Expectation | 1,9,13,16 | 4 |
| Interested | 3,10,15,17,18 | 5 |
| Accessible | 2,4,6,7,19,20,21 | 7 |
| Positive Regard | 5,8,11,12,14 | 5 |
Response Format
Respondents rate each item using a 5-point Likert scale (1 = Strongly Disagree to 5 = Strongly Agree).
Scoring
Items are summed to produce a total score.
Total scores range from 21 to 105. Interpretation guidelines:
- Low perceived teacher support: 21 – 49
- Moderate perceived teacher support: 50 – 77
- High perceived teacher support: 78 – 105
Psychometric Properties
Internal Consistency: The scale has demonstrated good to excellent internal consistency with reported Cronbach’s alpha values of 0.91 – 0.97.
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.