what does it all mean?!?! a guide to common measures of social-emotional development

What does it all Mean?!?!

A Guide to Common Measures of Social-

Emotional Development

Michelle Kozey, Carla Merkel, Laurie FordDepartment of Educational & Counselling Psychology & Special EducationUniversity of British Columbia

School Readiness…….

Preparing to Sit Through New Material…….

Our Goal for Today’s 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

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

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.

Assessing School Readiness

Typical to consider more traditional domains of

development

CognitiveMotor/Physical

Language

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

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


Promote Readiness

• Individual Differences– Children with more resilient characteristics demonstrate less vulnerability

– “Temperament” can influence relationships with others, including teachers and other adults


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

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.

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

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

Assessment Methods

• Direct observation of children• Informal and structured interviews with children

• Informal and structured interviews with teachers

• Rating scales or questionnaires

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

Norm-Referenced Tests versus Criterion Referenced Tests

• Norm-Referenced– focus on comparing a child’s performance to other children (their relative development)

• Criterion-Referenced– identify what skills a child has and has not yet developed (comparison to themselves)

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

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

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

Scores Used in Social and Emotional Tests

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


• 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


• Standard Scores– Average is 100

• Percentile Ranks– Average is 50th percentile

• Scaled Scores– Average is 10

• T-scores– Average is 50

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


(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


(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


(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)



• 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



• Conner’s 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



• 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


(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


(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


(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


(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


(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



• 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



• 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.

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


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

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


(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


(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

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


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

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

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.

The End….

what does it all mean?!?! a guide to common measures of social-emotional development

Documents

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