The Effectiveness of Health Management in Schools Scale (EHMSS): A Validity and Reliability Study

Abstract

The aim of this study is to develop a valid and reliable measurement tool that can measure the effectiveness of health management at schools according to teachers' opinions. The study group of the research consists of teachers working in pre-school, primary, secondary and high schools in Çankaya district of Ankara in fall semester 2019. In this study, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used to analyze the data. The findings of EFA and CFA were obtained from two different study groups consisted of 387 and 283 people respectively selected by simple random sampling method, which is a probabilistic sampling method. To this end, the scale consisted of 22 items and 4 sub-dimensions was formed. CFA that was conducted to determine the construct validity revealed that the model fit values of the scale were appropriate. The sub-dimensions of the scale were ‘Food and Equipment Health, Hygiene Health, Awareness and Physical Space, and Environmental Health’. The scale had four items coded in reverse. A total score was obtained from EHMSS and its dimensions, and the high score obtained from the scale means that the effectiveness level of health management at school is high, and the low score obtained means that the effectiveness level of health management at school is low. Cronbach's Alpha reliability coefficient of the scale indicated that the scale is a reliable measurement tool. Results and findings overall indicated that ‘Effectiveness of Health Management in Schools Scale (EHMSS)’ is a valid and reliable measurement tool that can be used psychometrically.