Czech validation of the Attitudes to Inclusion Scale and the Intention to Teach in Inclusive Classroom Scale among primary school teachers

The Attitudes to Inclusion Scale (AIS) and the Intention to Teach in Inclusive Classroom Scale (ITICS) are instruments widely used internationally for researching teachers' attitudes and intentions towards inclusive education (IE). This study presents information on psychometric analysis of the AIS and ITICS as well as their functioning in the Czech environment. Using a sample of 1434 teachers (88% female) from 140 regular public primary schools in the Czech Republic, confirmatory factor analysis was used to verify the two-factor structure of the AIS, which measures beliefs and feelings, as well as the structure of the ITICS, a unidimensional construct that measures the general intention of teachers in relation to IE. Both instruments achieved high reliability (ω ≥ 0.75), and convergent, discriminant, concurrent, and criterion validity were confirmed. The partially scalar for ITICS and fully strict invariance for AIS for the compared groups of teachers in terms of their age was achieved. The AIS and ITICS scales work well in the Czech sociocultural context and can be considered valid and reliable instruments for (international) comparisons of teachers' attitudes and intentions towards IE. Limitations of the study and suggestions for future research directions are also discussed.