Scale creation

The TALIS Starting Strong datasets include item-level survey data as well as additional indices and scale scores:

Simple indices - they refer to variables created 

• Either by aggregating responses to ensure respondent anonymity (e.g. precise age data grouped into age categories) 
• Or by deriving new variables from existing ones through relational calculations (e.g. student-teacher ratios)

Scale scores
They summarize responses to multiple items addressing the same latent construct. They were derived using latent variable modelling within the framework of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA).

• The underlying variables were intended to measure the constructs that were unobserved.
• Scales were operationally defined by observable items and constructed using complex scaling procedures.
• Typically, scale score estimates represent latent traits derived from the scaling of dichotomous or polytomous (e.g., Likert-type scale) items using latent trait methodology.
• Scale-item statistics such as item frequencies, number of musings, corrected item-total correlations were used to initially evaluate the quality of the scale items across all countries/sub-national entities.
• A reliability coefficient (omega) was used as the measure of scale reliability.
• Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used in certain cases to evaluate the dimensionality of the scales.
• Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis (MGCFA) was used to validate the constructed scales with regard to its measurement invariance level (e.g., configural, metric, and scalar).
• CFA was used to construct the scale scores.

Only scale indices are listed below.

List of background scales

Leader/setting scales

• Leader/setting scales
• Professional development needs, overall
• Professional development needs: leadership and setting management
• Professional development needs: pedagogy and pedagogical leadership
• Neighborhood environment
• Structural quality: adequacy of setting
• Barriers to structural quality: adequacy of physical resources
• Barriers to structural quality: adequacy of staffing (ISCED 02 only)
• Leader support for staff in pedagogical learning
• Leader innovations in the ECEC setting
• Distributed leadership
• Satisfaction with work at this ECEC setting
• Level of stress and impact on leaders’ well-being
• Sources of work stress associated with pedagogical leadership
• Sources of work stress associated with general leadership concerns

Staff scales

• Professional development needs: pedagogical
• Professional development needs: diversity
• Self-efficacy, overall
• Self-efficacy: children’s development, well-being and learning
• Facilitating play
• Facilitating prosocial behaviour
• Facilitating emotional development
• Child-centred planning
• Daily adaptive pedagogical practices
• Facilitating language development
• Facilitating literacy development
• Facilitating numeracy development
• Behavioral support in the classroom/playroom
• Promoting awareness and acceptance of diversity
• Engagement in collaborative practices
• Facilitating parent/guardian engagement
• Satisfaction with setting leadership
• Satisfaction with profession
• Satisfaction with work at this early childhood education and care (ECEC) setting
• Sources of work stress: aspects specific to children’s development, well-being and learning
• Sources of work stress: aspects related to capacity, resources and time
• Level of stress and its impact on staff well-being