That’s Inappropriate: Development of the Educator Misconduct Prevention and Reporting Inventory

Currently, there is no validated tool to assess educators’ intent to report boundary-crossing behaviors (BCB) and educator sexual misconduct (ESM). This study aimed to address this gap by evaluating the psychometric properties of the new Education Misconduct Prevention and Reporting Inventory (EMPRI) scale developed within the framework of the Theory of Planned Behavior. Data for this study were derived from school employee survey responses collected from 63 schools across 12 school districts, in nine U.S. states. Exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory (CFA) factor analyses provide strong evidence that the EMPRI is a valid and reliable tool, with Cronbach’s reliability coefficients of 0.81 to 0.92 in the exploratory phase and .74 to .93 in the confirmatory phase. The findings from the EFA, and confirmed by the CFA, support two separate latent constructs, with a total of 38 items. The first construct, Boundary Crossing Behavior Reporting Inventory, has three factors: (1) attitudes toward boundary crossing behaviors, (2) self-efficacy to intervene, and (3) social norms toward reporting BCB. The second construct, Educator Sexual Misconduct Reporting Inventory, consists of three factors: (1) school response efficacy, (2) self-efficacy of recognizing and responding to ESM, and (3) social norms toward reporting ESM. The EMPRI can be used to understand school personnel’s understanding and beliefs of where the line is drawn between inappropriate and appropriate behavior with students. By measuring what educators understand as boundary crossing behavior for sexual misconduct, schools can tailor training content and measure the impact interventions have in preventing sexual misconduct.