Development and initial validation of the Williams-Proctor Cultural Competence Scale: assessment for youth development professionals and paraprofessionals

Abstract

There are many fields needing to elaborate on the theoretical constructs that compose multicultural competence. This paper elaborated on the development of a reliable and valid instrument that assists with the self-assessment of cultural competence of youth development professionals and para-professionals surrounding planning, design and implementation, and evaluation and accountability. Data from 259 youth development professionals and para-professionals in 13 states were analyzed; the participants represented 4-H, Girl Scouts, and YMCA. Instrument development included item development employing a focus group, related theory, content validity using experts, and testing for reliability and, discriminate and convergent validity. Exploratory factor analysis indicated five factors with 44 items and overall reliability for the Williams Proctor Cultural Competence Scale was 96.4.