Does the School Really Support My Child? SOFIA: An Assessment Tool for Families of Children with SEN in Spain

• Main Authors: Laura Sánchez-Pujalte, María Teresa Gómez-Domínguez, Ana Soto-Rubio, Diego Navarro-Mateu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-09-01
• Series: Sustainability
• Subjects: special educational needs; family; support; school; satisfaction; SEN
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/19/7879

The integration of the family in educating their children allows for the optimization of educational intervention. Despite its relevance, there is not much research aimed at collecting the voice of the families of students with Special Educational Needs (SEN) about their relationship with the school system. The present study aims to develop and validate a questionnaire of the family perception of the support received from the educational system, the Satisfaction of Family in Inclusive Education Assessment (SOFIA) Questionnaire, conformed of 26 indicators. Analyses of the psychometric properties of the instrument support that they are good for use in this area. Specifically, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses support the internal structure of the instrument (confirmatory factorial analysis (CFA) = SBχ² = 607.11, <i>p</i> < 0.001; χ²/df = 2.07; Comparative Adjustment Index (IFC) = 0.902; Incremental Adjustment Index (IFI) = 0.903; the root mean square error approximation (RMSEA) = 0.071) in the same way, all dimension showed adequate reliability (Cronbach’s alpha ranged from 0.91 to 0.94; CR ranged from 0.91 to 0.95). The Average Variance Extracted (AVE) results also showed adequate results (0.55 to 0.68). Our research results indicate that the SOFIA Questionnaire’s psychometric properties are adequate for the Spanish context. The SOFIA Questionnaire is presented as a valid and reliable instrument to collect the families’ perception of the support they receive from the educational system.