Inclusion in bilingual education: Assessment of the SPI-BE scale for measuring student perceptions of inclusive practices

Abstract

Attention to diversity in the bilingual classroom has become a major challenge that is exacerbated by the lack of tools to measure its implementation in primary education. This study aimed to develop and evaluate the Student Perception of Inclusion in Bilingual Education (SPI-BE) scale to measure the frequency of different inclusive teaching practices as perceived by students. The sample included 2,626 primary students attending 27 bilingual schools in Spain. A modern IRT-related factorial analysis was used to assess the validity and reliability of the SPI-BE scale by focusing on the quality of the scores resulting from different factor solutions rather than on their goodness of fit. Analyses revealed two well-defined and replicable factor structures that justify the use of two partial scores and one total score. Female students, students in the lower grades, students participating in a British Council programme, and students without special educational needs had greater awareness of the use of inclusive teaching practices than other groups of students. It can be stated that the SPI-BE scale has excellent psychometric properties and can be used by researchers and practitioners as an instrument to measure inclusion in bilingual primary schools.

La atención a la diversidad en el aula bilingüe se ha convertido en un gran reto que se ve agravado por la carencia de herramientas para medir su aplicación en educación primaria. Este estudio tiene como objetivo desarrollar y evaluar la escala Student Perception of Inclusion in Bilingual Education (SPI-BE) para medir la frecuencia del uso de diferentes prácticas docentes inclusivas según la percepción del alumnado. La muestra incluye 2.626 estudiantes de primaria de 27 colegios bilingües en España. Se utilizó un moderno análisis factorial relacionado con la TRI para evaluar la validez y fiabilidad de la escala SPI-BE que se centra en la calidad de las puntuaciones resultantes de las diferentes soluciones factoriales antes que en su bondad de ajuste. Los análisis revelan dos estructuras factoriales bien definidas y replicables que justifican el uso de dos puntuaciones parciales y una total. Las alumnas, el alumnado de cursos inferiores, los de programas British Council y los que no tienen necesidades educativas especiales mostraron una mayor conciencia del uso de prácticas docentes inclusivas. La escala SPI-BE muestra excelentes propiedades psicométricas y puede ser utilizada por investigadores y profesionales como instrumento para medir la inclusión en centros de enseñanza bilingüe de primaria.