Validation of the Caretaker Readiness Questionnaire

This study sought to validate measures of caretaker readiness to facilitate meaningful participation in the Exceptional Student Education (ESE) educational decision-making process. School districts have encountered great difficulty in achieving the federal standards for meaningful participation in educational decision making due to a lack of caretaker involvement. This gap in readiness could well be a factor in the lack of caretaker involvement. The Caretaker Readiness Questionnaire (CRQ) is an instrument designed to measure mastery of knowledge and opinions regarding participation in ESE educational decision-making. The CRQ is comprised of two subscales: the Rights Questionnaire Scale (RQS) and the Caretaker Opinion Scale (COS). This study examined the factor structure, internal consistency and concurrent validity of the Caretaker Readiness Questionnaire (CRQ). Survey data were collected from a direct mail and direct solicitation criterion samples. Usable returns were gathered from N=53 caretakers with elementary school students attending Miami-Dade and Monroe County Public Schools in Florida. Caretakers completed assessments with regard to (a) caretaker knowledge, (b) opinions, and (c) caretaker involvement as it relates to participation in the ESE Placement Processes, ESE Support Activities, and General School Activities. For the purpose of this study, caretakers were comprised of the biological parents or legal guardians of minor children eligible to make educational decisions. Results of the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) revealed the RQS should be considered an uni-dimensional scale with an alpha of .91. A second EFA detected a two factor structure for the COS: the (1) Personal Domain and (2) External Domain with Cronbach alphas of .92 and .77, respectively. Nevertheless, a scree test further supported the interpretation that the COS can be used as a uni-dimensional measure with an alpha of .89. With regard to concurrent validity, no significant relationships were found between the RQS and the COS with respect to participation in the ESE placement process, ESE support activities, and general school activities as measured by the Caretaker Involvement Survey (CIS). Additional findings reflected a high degree of correspondence between participation in ESE placement process participation and the total numbers of occurrence types. Correlations between areas of participation suggest a general involvement factor that participation in one aspect of involvement may be predictive of caretaker involvement regardless of activity. The CRQ could be utilized in a field trial within a caretaker readiness program. Further validation of the CRQ is warranted with larger sample sizes to confirm the factor validity of the RQS and COS, as well as establishing concurrent validity.