Dimensions of Classroom Environmental Press

Murray's needs-press model provided the theoretical basis for the development of the Classroom Environment Index, a measure of the psychological environment or press of the classroom. The structure was essentially the same as other Syracuse indexes, i.e., 30 scales of 10 items each. Administered to samples of students from Grade 5 through graduate school, the instrument evolved through four successive revisions. The final form exhibited adequate reliability and homogeneity and differentiated between classrooms, subjects, grades, and educational levels. Six first-order and two second-order factors emerged. A comparison with other measures of environment illustrated the unique features of this index.