What does it all Mean A Guide to Common Measures of SocialEmotional Development

1
What does it all Mean?!?! A Guide to Common
Measures of Social-Emotional Development

• Michelle Kozey, Carla Merkel, Laurie Ford
• Department of Educational Counselling
  Psychology Special Education
• University of British Columbia

2
School Readiness.
3
Preparing to Sit Through New Material.
4
Our Goal for Todays Session

• To help educators, parents, and other
  professionals working with young children be
  better consumers of the results of developmental
  assessment in the area of social and emotional
  development

5
What we plan to cover this afternoon

• Background issues when considering social
  emotional assessment results
• Approaches to assessing social and emotional
  development
• Overview of common measures of social-emotional
  development

6
Why we see this as important

• Understanding tests and their results is as
  important for the person who receives the
  assessment results as it is for the person who
  gives the assessment results or administers the
  test.
• We want early educators and families to be good
  consumers of assessment results to help them
  better serve the children with whom they work.

7
Assessing School Readiness

• Typical to consider more traditional domains of
  development
• Cognitive
• Motor/Physical
• Language

8
What about Social and Emotional Readiness

• Has gained a great deal of recent attention
• Programs on social responsibility in BC schools
• Relationship of early social-emotional
  development and later school
  success

9
Social and Emotional Factors that Promote
Readiness

• Socially and emotionally responsive early
  relationships
• Foundation for other early learning
• Attachment key to later relationships and
  experiences
• Supportive relationships with adults including
  teachers can buffer or intensify problem
  relationships

10
Social and Emotional Factors that Promote
Readiness

• Individual Differences
• Children with more resilient characteristics
  demonstrate less vulnerability
• Temperament can influence relationships with
  others, including teachers and other adults

11
Social and Emotional Factors that Promote
Readiness

• Emotional Foundations for School Readiness
• Confidence
• Curiosity
• Intentionality
• Self-Control
• Relatedness
• Communication
• Cooperativeness

12
Considerations in Social and Emotional Assessment

• Factors/Domains/Areas
• E.g. temperament, prosocial, aggression
• Way the information is gathered
• Directly observe, teacher or parent informant
• Setting from which information is gathered
• Classrooms, playground, etc.

13
Assessment for Developmental Level versus
Diagnosis of Problem

• Need to consider what is developmentally
  appropriate or typical
• Some challenging behaviors may be normal for
  young children

14
Considerations in Social and Emotional Assessment

• Medical conditions and health
• Psychosocial stressors, environment and
  opportunities
• Degree of difficulty in functioning or distress
• Behavior of the child can vary across settings
  and change rapidly across time

15
Assessment Methods

• Direct observation of children
• Informal and structured interviews with children
• Informal and structured interviews with teachers
• Rating scales or questionnaires

16
Assessment Approaches Types of Measures

• Screening versus Diagnosis
• Screening is a brief evaluation to identify which
  children need further more in-depth assessment
• Diagnostic approaches attempt to identify whether
  children have significant symptoms of certain
  conditions

17
Norm-Referenced Tests versus Criterion Referenced
Tests

• Norm-Referenced
• focus on comparing a childs performance to other
  children (their relative development)
• Criterion-Referenced
• identify what skills a child has and has not yet
  developed (comparison to themselves)

18
Typical or Regular Standardized Norms versus
Norms for Clinical Populations

• Regular norms
• allow you to compare a child to the general
  population
• Clinical Sample norms
• allow you to compare the child to a group of
  children with a clinical diagnosis

19
Limitations of Rating Scales

• Rating scales measure limited aspects of
  behaviour (only that which is included on a
  particular test)
• Rating scales are only as reliable and accurate
  as the respondent, and results can be affected by
  how well the respondent knows the child across
  different settings

20
Limitations of Rating Scales

• Responses to rating scales can be affected by how
  knowledgeable the respondent is about typical
  child behaviour for a given age, e.g., teachers
  are sometimes able to better compare children
  than first time parents
• ? Responses may reflect a desire to minimize or
  exaggerate the difficulties of a child, due to
  embarrassment, frustration or a desire to access
  services

21
Scores Used in Social and Emotional Tests

• Raw Scores
• Age Equivalents
• Standard Scores
• T-scores
• Percentile Ranks

22
Scores Used in Social and Emotional Tests

• Raw Scores
• The total number correct
• Does not really tell you much
• Age (Grade) Equivalents
• Common but misunderstood
• The focus of interpreting a criterion-referenced
  test
• Reflects the average score obtained by children
  in an age group

23
Scores Used in Social and Emotional Tests

• Standard Scores
• Average is 100
• Percentile Ranks
• Average is 50th percentile
• Scaled Scores
• Average is 10
• T-scores
• Average is 50

24
Norm-Referenced Measures(individual rating
scales)

• Devereux Early Childhood Assessment (DECA
  Labuffe Naglieri 1999)
• Ages 2 to 5 years
• Uses teacher or parent ratings over several weeks
• Unique in its focus on resiliency -- less focus
  on problem behavior
• A strength-based approach
• Linked with a curriculum on social-
  emotional development

25
Norm-Referenced Measures(individual rating
scales)

• Social Skills Rating System-Preschool Level
  (SSRS-P Gresham Elliot 1990)
• Part of a test for student up to 18 years
  preschool version for 3 to 5 years
• Uses parent and teacher as raters
• Ratings of frequency of behavior and separate
  ratings of the importance of these behaviors to
  social success
• Areas of focus include Cooperation Assertion
  Responsibility Empathy Self-Control Behavior
  Problems

26
Norm-Referenced Measures(individual rating
scales)

• Behavior Assessment for Children, 2nd Edition
  (BASC-2 Reynolds Kamphaus, 2004)
• Part of a larger system for student through 18
  years-- Preschool Version is 2 to 5 years
• Parent and teacher rating scales
• Focus is on problem behaviors
• Often used as a screening test but can prove
  helpful in diagnosis with other information
• One of the most widely used measures with
  school-age students

27
Norm-Referenced Measures(individual rating
scales)

• Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales-Second
  Edition (PKBS-2 Merrell, 2002)
• Ages 3 to 6 years
• Parent and teacher ratings
• Screening for both positive and negative
  behaviors
• Scales include Social Cooperation Social
  Interaction Independence General Problem
  Behaviors
• A strong developmental feel for a rating scale
  (e.g. items worded more child and family
  friendly)

28
Norm-Referenced Measures(individual rating
scales)

• Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment
  (ASEBA Achenbach Rescorla, 2000)
• Part of a larger system for use with students
  through 17 years
• Child Behavior Checklist (for parents) 1.5 to 5
  years
• Caregiver-Teacher Checklist for 1.5 to 5 years
• Focus is on problem-behaviors

29
Norm-Referenced Measures(individual rating
scales)

• Conners Rating Scales-Revised (Conners, 1997)
• Parent and teacher rating scales
• While viewed as a screening measure is helpful in
  diagnosis as well
• Focus on problem behavior

30
Norm-Referenced Measures(individual rating
scales)

• Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment
  (ASEBA Achenbach Rescorla, 2000)
• While viewed by many as a screening tool, it has
  many diagnostic features
• Major scales include Problem Behaviors
  Internalizing Externalizing
• Other relevant subscales affective problems
  anxiety problems pervasive developmental
  problems attention-hyperactivity problems
  oppositional-defiant problems Sleep problems
  (parent scale only) Language Developmental Survey

31
Norm-Referenced Measures(individual rating
scales)

• Scales of Independent Behavior-Revised (SIB-R
  Brunicks, Woodcock, Weatherman, 1996)
• Ages Infancy throug 80 years
• You can purchase just the forms with items for
  young children
• Early Development Form best for young children
• Focus on Adaptive and Prosocial Behaviors
  including Motor Skills Social Interaction
  Communication Personal Living Skills Community
  Living Skills
• Structured interview with caregiver or teacher

32
Norm-Referenced Measures(individual rating
scales)

• Vineland Social-Emotional Early Childhood Scales
  (Vineland SEEC Sparrow, Balla Cincchetti,
  1998)
• Ages Birth through 5 years 11 months
• Focus is on early childhood social-emotional
  adjustment
• Domains include Play Leisure Coping Skills
  Interpersonal Relationships
• Collected through an interview with a caregiver
  or parent

33
Norm-Referenced Measures(individual rating
scales)

• Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales- 2nd Edition
  (VABS-2 Sparrow Cicchetti, Balla 2005)
• Ages Birth to 90 years
• A major revision since previous version allows
  for flexibility in administration including a
  survey interview form a parent-caregiver rating
  form and expanded interview form teacher rating
  form
• Domains include Communication Daily Living
  Skills Socialization Motor Skills
• An optional maladaptive index focusing in
  internalizing and externalizing behaviors

34
Norm-Referenced Measures(subscales within larger
batteries)

• Battelle Developmental Inventory- Second Edition
  (BDI2 Newborg, 2004)
• Part of a larger battery with 4 additional scales
  (Cognitive, Motor Communication)
• Ages Birth to 7 years
• Personal-Social Adaptive Domains

35
Norm-Referenced Measures(subscales within larger
batteries)

• Battelle Developmental Inventory- Second Edition
  (BDI2 Newborg, 2004)
• Personal-Social domain addresses adult
  interaction peer interaction self-concept and
  social role
• Adaptive domain addresses Self-care and personal
  responsibility
• Flexibility of adminstration, PS and Adaptive
  domains largely interview and some observation

36
Norm-Referenced Measures(subscales within larger
batteries)

• Bayley Scales of Infant Development 3rd Edition
• Update and Expansion of the Bayley Scales
  includes a social-emotional domain
• Ages 1 to 42 months
• Domains include cognitive language motor as
  well as social-emotional and adaptive

37
Norm-Referenced Measures(subscales within larger
batteries)

• Bayley Scales of Infant Development 3rd Edition
• Social-emotional and Adaptive domains provide
  separate scores in these areas
• Gathered via questionairre
• More parent/caregiver involvement than previous
  version
• Can be administered by appropriately trained
  professionals in different disciplines.

38
Criterion-Referenced/Curriculum Based Measures

• Hawaii Early Learning Profile (HELP Funruno, et
  al 2004)
• Ages Birth to Three and Preschool Versions
• A widely used family centered and linked with
  curriculum that goes with the scales
• Very helpful in tracking progress-- much more
  item coverage than norm-referenced measures
• Social and Self-Help are 2 of 7 areas (others
  include cognitive, language, fine motor, gross
  motor)
• Collected by on-going observation

39
Criterion-Referenced/Curriculum Based Measures

• Assessment Evaluation and Programming System for
  Infants and Young Children - 2nd Edition (AEPS
  Bricker 2002)
• Birth to Three Year and Three to Six Year
  versions
• Has a curriculum that goes with the assessment
  tools
• Domains include Fine motor Gross Motor
  Cognitive Adaptive Social-Communication and
  Social
• Best used by professionals working with students
  on an on-going basis.
• Relies on observation in natural environments
• Useful in program planning

40
Assessment for Educational Planning (AEPS)

• Observation, direct assessment, and
  parent/caregiver/therapist report
• Designed to be used on an on going basis to
  monitor progress
• Can be used by direct service personnel and
  specialists

41
Assessment for Educational Planning (AEPS)

• Objectives and goals are either observed,
  elicited, or recorded based on parent, caregiver
  or therapist report
• It strongly encourages family participation in
  the assessment process and includes a number of
  special family materials
• Family report Planning Guide Child Progress
  Record Family Interest Survey

42
Assessment for Educational Planning (AEPS)

• Three social subdomains
• Interaction with adults
• Interaction with environment
• Interaction with peers
• Each domain is divided into strands and
  objectives are developmentally sequenced
• Designed to be used along with the AEPS
  curriculum
• Children with special needs or those at risk are
  targeted

43
Criterion-Referenced/Curriculum Based Measures

• Carolina Curriculum for Preschoolers with Special
  Needs (CCPSN Johnson-Martin Attermeirer
  Hacker, 2003)
• Infant-Toddler version also available in separate
  book
• Linked with a well validated curriculum
• Domain of focus Personal-social along with
  Cognition Cognition Communication Fine Motor
  Gross Motor
• Very nice sequence of developmental outcomes for
  program planning

44
Criterion-Referenced/Curriculum Based Measures

• Brigance Diagnostic Inventory of Early
  Development
• Direct child and parent assessment, parent
  observations
• Ages Birth to 7 years of age
• The examiner should have in depth knowledge of
  child development and be familiar with the manual
  procedures

45
Brigance Diagnostic Inventory of Early Development

• Administration can be adapted and used to
  accommodate the setting
• Social and Emotional Development is one of 11
  domains
• Examiner selects skill to administer and the
  method
• Direct child assessment, caregiver observation,
  or parent interview

46
Brigance Diagnostic Inventory of Early Development

• Materials can be those commonly available in home
  or child care setting
• No special adaptations for children with special
  needs highlighted but the authors indicate
  adaptation could be done.
• More effective with children with mild to
  moderate delays.

47
The End.