The Psychometric Characteristics of the Henderson Environmental Learning Process Scale

The Henderson Environmental Learning Process Scale (HELPS) was designed to assess environmental process variables in the home that are relevant to intellectual development and academic achievement of young children. Previous factor-analytic studies of the HLPS have identified both five- and six-factor solutions but have not reported on the reliability of their results. The present authors investigated the psychometric characteristics of the HELPS in a sample of 385 parents of school-aged children. The results of a factor analysis provided a conceptually meaningful six-factor solution. However, the internal consistency reliabilities of scores on three of the six factors were unacceptably low. Obtained internal consistency reliabilities for scores on the six subscales ranged from 0.35 to 0.80. Although scores on there of the factors have low internal consistency reliabilities, the HELPS may prove to be a useful instrument with some modification and further testing.