The Development of the Correctional Education Teacher Decision-Making Scale (CETDM Scale)
Jonathan E. Messemer, Thomas Valentine

Abstract
The majority of adult correctional education literature is directed toward inmate outcomes. The researchers found no empirical studies, which focus upon those who teach in the United States prison system. The purpose of this study is to discuss the development and testing of the CETDM Scale. The CETDM Scale measures the following six dimensions of influence: prison administrators, correctional officers, other correctional educators, inmates, classroom characteristics, and security/safety. The CETDM Scale also measures the level of power correctional teachers believe they have to make instructional decisions in the classroom. The findings from a study of 427 correctional education teachers suggests that the reliability for all seven factored groups warrant Cronbach alpha levels of .80 or greater. The study also discusses the issue of item deletion and its influence upon the rate of reliability among the seven factor groups.

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