Validation of the student version of the Perceptions of Inclusion Questionnaire in primary and secondary education settings

Considering students’ voices and perspectives is indispensable in educational contexts. Therefore, instruments of measurement that are reliable and valid and can be used easily without complications are needed in schools. The Perceptions of Inclusion Questionnaire (PIQ) is a short instrument used to assess three central dimensions of inclusion, namely emotional and social inclusion and academic self-concept. Previous evaluations indicate in general high psychometric properties. This study aimed to evaluate the construct validity of the three scales of the PIQ’s student version using different approaches in two samples from primary (grade 4, N = 721) and secondary (grade 7, N = 393) schools. The results of confirmatory factorial analyses confirmed the PIQ’s three factors in both samples which are also measurement equivalent across grades. Plausible correlations with additional divergent and convergent scales reveal that the PIQ measures the theoretically assumed constructs—emotional and social inclusion as well as academic self-concept—validly.