Assessing the Perceived Effectiveness and Acceptability of Pre-Referral Intervention Team Procedures by School Teams: Continued Validation of the Pre-Referral Intervention Team

The Pre-Referral Intervention Team Inventory (PRITI) is a 24-item Likert scale created to measure the perceived effectiveness and acceptability of pre-referral teams (PRTs) in a school setting. Initial studies have shown both two-factor and single-factor structures with high internal consistency. Acceptability of team procedures as measured by the PRITI showed expected relationships to the Team Climate Inventory (TCI) and the Revised Teacher Stress Inventory (RTSI). The results of initial studies suggest that the PRITI may be a useful measure for assessing school staff acceptability perceptions of PRT consultation procedures, but further validation is needed. For the current study, the responses of 108 licensed school staff on the PRITI, TCI, and RTSI were analyzed using an exploratory factor analysis of a two-factor and single-factor solution in order to continue the validation process of the PRITI as an adequate measure of staff acceptability and perceived effectiveness. Results indicated that a two-factor solution was a better fit, as it explained more total variance. The analyses demonstrated that the primary and secondary factors (Acceptability and Effectiveness) were strongly intercorrelated. Convergent validity findings were consistent with Yetter’s (2010) findings with moderate positive correlations between scales and the TCI and small to moderate negative correlations between scales and the RTSI. Both subscales of the PRITI, as well as the full scale, were found to be internally consistent