Examining the Psychometric Properties of Maximally Efficient Items From the Social Skills Improvement System

Abstract

The current study examined the psychometric properties of a set of maximally efficient items (SMIs) from the Social Skills Improvement System–Teacher Rating Scale (SSIS-TRS). Sixty-three teachers rated 302 second through sixth graders on these SMIs, and several concurrent validity measures were administered. Results provided initial support for the validity of scores from the SMIs. Implications for practice and psychological research are discussed.

Keywords

social competence social skills problem behaviors item response theory Social Skills Improvement System rating scales

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, & National Council on Measurement in Education. (2014). The Standards for educational and psychological testing. Washington, DC: American Educational Research Association.

Anthony

C. J.

DiPerna

J. C.

Lei

P.-W.

(2016). Maximizing measurement efficiency of behavior rating scales using item response theory: An example with the Social Skills Improvement System–Teacher Rating Scale. Journal of School Psychology, 55, 57-69. doi:10.1016/j.jsp.2015.12.005

Caemmerer

J. M.

Keith

T. Z.

(2015). Longitudinal, reciprocal effects of social skills and achievement from kindergarten to eighth grade. Journal of School Psychology, 53, 265-281.

Campbell

D. T.

Fiske

D. W.

(1959). Convergent and discriminant validation by the multitrait-multimethod matrix. Psychological Bulletin, 56, 81-105.

Caprara

Barbaranelli

Pastorelli

Bandura

Zimbardo

(2000). Prosocial foundations of children’s academic achievement. Psychological Science, 11, 302-306.

Carter

A. S.

Briggs-Gowan

M. J.

(2000). Manual of the Infant-Toddler Social-Emotional Assessment. New Haven, CT: Yale University.

Cowen

E. L.

Pederson

Babigian

Isso

L. D.

Trost

M. A.

(1973). Long-term follow-up of early detected vulnerable children. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 41, 438-446.

Cronbach

L. J.

Meehl

P. E.

(1955). Construct validity in psychological tests. Psychological Bulletin, 52, 281-302.

de Ayala

R. J

. (2009). The theory and practice of item response theory. New York, NY: Guilford Press.

10.

Demaray

M. K.

Jenkins

L. N.

(2011). Relations among academic enablers and academic achievement in children with and without high levels of parent-rated symptoms of inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity. Psychology in the Schools, 48, 573-586. doi:10.1002/pits.20578

11.

DiPerna

J. C.

Bailey

C. G.

Anthony

C. J.

(2014). Broadband screening of academic and social behavior. In Kettler

R. J.

Glover

T. A.

Albers

C. A.

Feeney-Kettler

K. A.

(Eds.), Universal screening in educational settings: Identification, implementation, and interpretation. (pp. 223-248). Washington, DC: APA Books.

12.

DiPerna

J. C.

Elliott

S. N.

(2000). Academic Competence Evaluation Scales. San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation.

13.

DiPerna

J. C.

Volpe

R. J.

Elliott

S. N.

(2002). A model of academic enablers and elementary reading/language arts achievement. School Psychology Review, 31, 298-312.

14.

DiPerna

J. C.

Volpe

R. J.

Elliott

S. N.

(2005). A model of academic enablers and mathematics achievement in the elementary grades. Journal of School Psychology, 43, 379-392.

15.

Dirks

M. A.

Treat

T. A.

Weersing

V. R.

(2007). Integrating theoretical, measurement, and intervention models of youth social competence. Clinical Psychology Review, 27, 327-347. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2006.11.002

16.

Durlak

J. A.

Weissberg

R. P.

Dymnicki

A. B.

Taylor

R. D.

Schellinger

K. B.

(2011). The impact of enhancing students’ social and emotional learning: A meta-analysis of school-based universal interventions. Child Development, 82, 405-432. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01564.x

17.

Edelen

M. O.

Reeve

B. B.

(2007). Applying item response theory (IRT) modeling to questionnaire development, evaluation, and refinement. Quality of Life Research, 16, 5-18.

18.

Fleming

C. B.

Haggerty

K. P.

Catalano

R. F.

Harachi

T. W.

Mazza

J. J.

Gruman

D. H.

(2005). Do social and behavioral characteristics targeted by preventive interventions predict standardized test scores and grades? Journal of School Health, 75, 342-349.

19.

Galesic

Bosnjak

(2009). Effects of questionnaire length on participation and indicators of response quality in a web survey. Public Opinion Quarterly, 73, 349-360. doi:10.1093/poq/nfp031

20.

Greenberg

M. T.

Weissberg

R. P.

O’Brien

M. U.

Zins

J. E.

Fredericks

Resnik

Elias

M. J.

(2003). Enhancing school-based prevention and youth development through coordinated social, emotional, and academic learning. American Psychologist, 58, 466-474.

21.

Gresham

F. M.

(1981). Social skills training with handicapped children: A review. Review of Educational Research, 51, 139-176.

22.

Gresham

F. M.

(2016). Social skills assessment and intervention for children and youth. Cambridge Journal of Education, 46, 319-332. doi:10.1080/0305764X.2016.1195788

23.

Gresham

F. M.

Elliot

S. N.

(1990). Social skills rating system. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service.

24.

Gresham

F. M.

Elliott

S. N.

(2008). Social Skills Improvement System–Rating Scales. Minneapolis, MN: Pearson Assessments.

25.

Gresham

F. M.

Elliott

S. N.

Cook

C. R.

Vance

M. J.

Kettler

(2010). Cross-informant agreement for ratings for social skill and problem behavior ratings: An investigation of the Social Skills Improvement System–Rating Scales. Psychological Assessment, 22, 157-166. doi:10.1037/a0018124

26.

Gresham

F. M.

Elliott

S. N.

Vance

M. J.

Cook

C. R.

(2011). Comparability of Social Skills Rating System to the Social Skills Improvement System: Content and psychometric comparisons across elementary and secondary age levels. School Psychology Quarterly, 26, 27-44. doi:10.1037/a0022662

27.

Halle

T. G.

Darling-Churchill

K. E.

(2016). Review of measures of social and emotional development. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 45, 8-18. doi:10.1016/j.appdev.2016.02.003

28.

Hambleton

R. K.

Swaminathan

Rogers

H. J.

(1991). Fundamentals of item response theory. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

29.

Lorenz

D. J.

Datta

Harkema

S. J.

(2011). Marginal association measures for clustered data. Statistics in Medicine, 30, 3181-3191.

30.

Malecki

C. K.

Elliot

S. N.

(2002). Children’s social behaviors as predictors of academic achievement: A longitudinal analysis. School Psychology Quarterly, 17, 1-23. doi:10.1521/scpq.17.1.1.19902

31.

McDermott

P. A.

Leigh

N. M.

Perry

M. A.

(2002). Development and validation of the preschool learning behaviors scale. Psychology in the Schools, 39, 353-365. doi:10.1002/pits.10036

32.

Nering

M. L.

Ostini

(Eds.). (2010). Handbook of polytomous item response theory models. New York, NY: Routledge.

33.

Oberle

Schonert-Reichl

K. A.

Hertzman

Zumbo

B. D.

(2014). Social–emotional competencies make the grade: Predicting academic success in early adolescence. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 35, 138-147.

34.

R Development Core Team. (2016). R: A language and environment for statistical computing [Computer software]. Vienna, Austria: R Foundation for Statistical Computing. Available from https://www.R-project.org/

35.

Renaissance Learning, Inc. (2007). Understanding STAR assessments. Wisconsin Rapids, WI: Author.

36.

Reynolds

C. R.

Kamphaus

R. W.

(2004). Behavior assessment system for children (2nd ed.). Bloomington, MN: Pearson Assessments.

37.

Segrin

(2000). Social skills deficits associated with depression. Clinical Psychology Review, 20, 379-403.

38.

Smith

G. T.

McCarthy

D. M.

Anderson

K. G.

(2000). On the sins of short-form development. Psychological Assessment, 12, 102-111. doi:10.1037/1040-3590.12.1.102

39.

Steiger

J. H.

(1980). Tests for comparing elements of a correlation matrix. Psychological Bulletin, 87, 245-251.

40.

Turney

McLanahan

(2015). The academic consequences of early childhood problem behaviors. Social Science Research, 54, 131-145. doi:10.1016/j.ssresearch.2015.06.022

41.

U.S. Department of Education, National Center on Response to Intervention. (2010). Review of progress monitoring tools [Review of STAR Math]. Washington, DC: Author.

42.

U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights. (2016). 2013-2014 Civil rights data collection: A first look. Retrieved from https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/2013-14-first-look.pdf

43.

Walker

H. M.

Severson

H. H.

Feil

E. G.

(2014). Systematic screening for behavior disorders (SSBD) technical manual: Universal screening for preK–9 (2nd ed.). Eugene, OR: Pacific Northwest.

44.

Wentzel

K. R.

(1993). Does being good make the grade? Social behavior and academic competence in middle school. Journal of Educational Psychology, 85, 357-364.

45.

Whitcomb

Merrell

(2013). Behavioral, social, and emotional assessment of children and adolescents (4th ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.

46.

Widaman

K. F.

Little

T. D.

Preacher

K. J.

Sawalani

G. M.

(2011). On creating and using short forms of scales in secondary research. In Trzesniewski

K. H.

Donnellan

M. B.

Lucas

R. E.

(Eds.), Secondary data analysis: An introduction for psychologists (pp. 39-61). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

47.

Youngstrom

E. A.

(2013). Future directions in psychological assessment: Combining evidence-based medicine innovations with psychology’s historical strengths to enhance utility. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 42, 139-159. doi:10.1080/15374416.2012.736358

48.

Zaslow

Halle

Martin

Cabrera

Calkins

Pitzer

Geyelin

N. M.

(2006). Child outcome measures in the study of child care quality. Evaluation Review, 30, 577-610. doi:10.1177/0193841X06291529

Examining the Psychometric Properties of Maximally Efficient Items From the Social Skills Improvement System–Teacher Rating Scale

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References