School Effectiveness from the Parents’ Perspective in Croatia: Construction and Validation of the Questionnaire
Adriana Ažić Bastalić, Branko Rafajac and Nena Rončević

Summary:  The aim of this paper was to construct and validate a questionnaire to measure parents’ perceptions of an effective school, based on a representative sample of 2,245 parents whose children attend primary and secondary schools in the Republic of Croatia. The items of the questionnaire were created by analysing recent literature and existing research in the field. The final version of the questionnaire contained all the items from the initial analysis. Construct validity was tested using the component model of exploratory factor analysis, and internal validation was confirmed using the Cronbach’s alpha. Four independent factors were identified: Encouragement of high achievement in school and student support; Discipline and safety; School equipment and interior; and Parental involvement in the school functioning. Differences in the parents’ attitudes on the acquired subscales were also examined in relation to the sociodemographic variables (i.e. gender, age, working status, level of education, marital status, and their child(ren)’s grade level). The results confirmed the existence of the four identified independent constructs.

Journal of Contemporary Educational Studies is
published with support of Slovenian Research Agency.