Validation of the elementary social behaviour assessment: teacher ratings of students’ social skills adapted to Norwegian, grades 1–6

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the psychometric properties of the Elementary Social Behaviour Assessment (ESBA), a teacher-report measure of students’ social skills and academic engagement adapted for use in Norwegian schools. At two times, 8 weeks apart, 151 teachers rated 793 students in Grades 1–6 on the ESBA and the Social Skills Rating System Teacher’s form (SSRS-T). Exploratory factor analysis with the first assessment suggested one or possibly two factors. Confirmatory factor analysis with the second assessment confirmed the one- or two-factor models but did not offer strong evidence for one over the other. The ESBA demonstrated good to excellent reliability. Strong concurrent and predictive correlations with the SSRS-T established criterion validity. The school and teacher levels explained only a limited amount of the total variance in ESBA scores, suggesting that teachers rate students quite similarly. The Norwegian-adapted ESBA paralleled the reliability and validity evidence from US samples.

KEYWORDS:

• Screeners
• social behaviour
• academic engagement
• reliability
• validity

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the students and their teachers for participating in the study. Additionally, Jordan Pennefather for assisting initial data analysing and Hill Walker for invaluable reviews and feedback of the manuscript. The research was supported in part by grants from NATED – National Graduate School in Education Research, University of Oslo, Norway and the US Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, to IRIS Educational Media (R305A150046). The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the University of Oslo or the US Department of Education.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Anne Arnesen

Anne Arnesen, is a doctoral student in the Department of Special Needs Education at the University of Oslo, Norway. Her research interests cover assessments and interventions for students at risk for social behavioural and academic difficulties.

Keith Smolkowski

Keith Smolkowski, PhD, holds the position as research scientist at Oregon Research Institute, Eugene, OR, USA. His research interests cover a variety of topics, such as reading and mathematics instruction, child social behaviour interventions, adolescent problem behaviour, and substance use, and the assessment of teacher and students.

Terje Ogden

Terje Ogden, PhD, holds the position as research director at the Norwegian Center for Child Behavioral Development, Oslo. His research interests include the development, implementation and evaluation of interventions targeting children and youth with behaviour problems.

Monica Melby-Lervåg

Monica Melby-Lervåg, PhD, is a professor in the Department of Special Needs Education at the University of Oslo, Norway. Her research interests include learning impairments, language and reading development in children with dyslexia, specific language difficulties, and minority languages.