Psychometric study of a measurement scale for the teaching of social skills to students with special educational needs
Keywords:
special education, teachers’ preparedness, teaching social skills, EFA, CFA
Abstract
Introduction. Teaching social skills to students with special educational needs is essential for their personal development and integration into society. Objectives. The purpose of this study is to validate a measurement instrument for the elements involved in teaching and learning social skills in students with special educational needs. Two studies were conducted to accomplish this objective. Methods. Firstly, an exploratory study, with half of the sample, consisting a sample of 166 Greek teachers working in primary and secondary schools of special and general education, in Western Macedonia region. Secondly, a confirmatory study, consisting of a sample of 185 Greek teachers who also work in primary and secondary schools of special and general education in the same region. All education professionals work with students with mild special educational needs. The instrument used was an “ad hoc” created questionnaire, consisting 17 items of a 5 point the Likert scale, to which different analyses were applied to verify its validity and reliability. Results. An Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) showed a total of 3 factors corresponding to the “Preparedness of Teachers in Teaching Social Skills”, to the “Elements of Influence on Teachers' Suitability in Teaching Social Skills” and to the “Elements that play an important role in Teaching Social Skills”. Subsequently, a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was carried out, through which the results derived from the AFE were ratified. Conclusion. The findings reveal an instrument that is adequate in validity and reliability, in accordance with the literature, demonstrating that the model is consistent and coherent with the initial theoretical assumptions.
References
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Hebbeler, K., & Spiker, D. (2016). Supporting young children with disabilities. The future of children, 185-205. https://doi.org/10.1353/foc.2016.0018
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Meadan, H., & Monda-Amaya, L. (2008). Collaboration to promote social competence for students with mild disabilities in the general classroom: A structure for providing social support. Intervention in school and clinic, 43(3), 158-167. https://doi.org/10.1177/1053451207311617
Merrel, K. W. & Gimpel, G. A., (2014). Social skills of children and adolescents: conceptualization, assessment, treatment. New York and London: Psychology Press. https://doi.org/10.1177/073428290202000408
Payton, J., Weissberg, R. P., Durlak, J. A., Dymnicki, A. B., Taylor, R. D., Schellinger, K. B., & Pachan, M. (2008). The Positive Impact of Social and Emotional Learning for Kindergarten to Eighth-Grade Students: Findings from Three Scientific Reviews. Technical Report. Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (NJ1). https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004444515_006
Pérez-Valverde, C., Ruiz-Cecilia, R., Medina-Sánchez, L., & Guijarro-Ojeda, J. R. (2021). Coping with Challenges in Teaching Foreign Languages to Children with Mild Intellectual Disabilities: Stakeholders’ Perspectives. Mathematics, 9(8), 906. https://doi.org/10.3390/math9080906
Peterson, C., Slaughter, V., Moore, C., & Wellman, H. M. (2016). Peer social skills and theory of mind in children with autism, deafness, or typical development. Developmental psychology, 52(1), 46. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0039833
Radley, K.C., Dart, E.H. (2022). What Are Social Skills? In: Social Skills Teaching for Individuals with Autism. Springer Series on Child and Family Studies. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-91665-7_2
Renk, K., & Phares, V. (2004). Cross-informant ratings of social competence in children and adolescents. Clinical psychology review, 24(2), 239-254. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2004.01.004
Salavera, C., Usán, P., & Teruel, P. (2019). The relationship of internalizing problems with emotional intelligence and social skills in secondary education students: gender differences. Psicologia: Reflexão e Crítica, 32(4), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41155-018-0115-y
Schneider, D. R., Kaszubowski, E., Garcia, D., Scaff, L., Moraes-Cruz, R., & Sanchez, Z. M. (2020). Psychometric properties of a Brazilian adaptation of the Teacher Observation of Classroom Adaptation-Revised Scale for Children's Behavior. Acta Colombiana de Psicología, 23(1), 320-332. https://doi.org/10.14718/ACP.2020.23.1.15
Schober, P., & Vetter, T. R. (2020). Nonparametric statistical methods in medical research. Anesthesia & Analgesia, 131(6), 1862-1863. https://doi.org/10.1213/ANE.0000000000005101
Sørlie, M. A., Hagen, K. A., & Nordahl, K. B. (2021). Development of social skills during middle childhood: Growth trajectories and school-related predictors. International Journal of School & Educational Psychology, 9, 69-87. https://doi.org/10.1080/21683603.2020.1744492
Storebø, O. J., Andersen, M. E., Skoog, M., Hansen, S. J., Simonsen, E., Pedersen, N., ... & Gluud, C. (2019). Social skills training for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children aged 5 to 18 years. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (6). https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD008223.pub3
Spence, S. H. (2003). Social skills training with children and young people: Theory, evidence and practice. Child and adolescent mental health, 8(2), 84-96. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-3588.00051
Taherdoost, H. A. M. E. D., Sahibuddin, S., & Jalaliyoon, N. E. D. A. (2022). Exploratory factor analysis; concepts and theory. Advances in applied and pure mathematics, 27, 375-382. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0079-8169(08)62374-0
Tanaka, H., Sakriani, S., Neubig, G., Toda, T., Negoro, H., Iwasaka, H., & Nakamura, S. (2016). Teaching social communication skills through human-agent interaction. ACM Transactions on Interactive Intelligent Systems (TiiS), 6(2), 1-26. https://doi.org/10.1145/2937757
Tanaka H, Saga T, Iwauchi K, Honda M, Morimoto T, Matsuda Y, Uratani M, Okazaki K, Nakamura S. The Validation of Automated Social Skills Training in Members of the General Population Over 4 Weeks: Comparative Study. JMIR Form Res. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-7819-8_5
Tohara, A. J. T. (2021). Exploring digital literacy strategies for students with special educational needs in the digital age. Turkish Journal of Computer and Mathematics Education (TURCOMAT), 12(9), 3345-3358. https://doi.org/10.17762/turcomat.v12i6.4817
Timmerman, M. E., & Lorenzo-Seva, U. (2011). Dimensionality assessment of ordered polytomous items with parallel analysis. Psychological methods, 16(2), 209. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0023353
Vaughn, S., Sinagub, J., & Kim, A. H. (2004). Social competence/social skills of students with learning disabilities: Interventions and issues. In Learning about learning disabilities (pp. 341-373). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-012762533-1/50013-5
Wiley, A. L. & Siperstein, G. N. (2015). SEL for students with high- incidence disabilities. In J. A. Durlak, C. E. Domitrovich, R. P. Weissberg, & T. P. Gullota (Eds.), Handbook of social and emotional learning: Research and practice (pp. 213-228). New York, NY: The Guilford Press. https://doi.org/10.1111/ldrp.12048
Williams, B., Onsman, A., & Brown, T. (2010). Exploratory factor analysis: A five-step guide for novices. Australasian journal of paramedicine, 8, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.33151/ajp.8.3.93
World Health Organization. (2022). ICD-11: International classification of diseases (11th revision). Retrieved October 11, 2023 from https://doi.org/10.2471/BLT.10.078964
Adair, B., Ullenhag, A., Keen, D., Granlund, M., & Imms, C. (2015). The effect of interventions aimed at improving participation outcomes for children with disabilities: a systematic review. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, 57(12), 1093-1104. https://doi.org/10.1111/dmcn.12809
Barwick, M. (2011). Master's level clinician competencies in child and youth behavioral healthcare. Emotional & Behavioral Disorders in Youth, 11(2), 32–39. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429453106-30
Brown, T. A. (2015). Confirmatory factor analysis for applied research (2nd ed.). The Guilford Press. https://doi.org/10.1177/1094428108323758
Byrne, B. M. (1994). Structural equation modeling with EQS and EQS/Windows: Basic concepts, applications, and programming. Sage. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203726532
Byrne, B. M. (2001). Structural equation modeling with AMOS, EQS, and LISREL: Comparative approaches to testing for the factorial validity of a measuring instrument. International journal of testing, 1(1), 55-86. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203726532
Djambazova-Popordanoska, S. (2016). Implications of emotion regulation on young children’s emotional wellbeing and educational achievement. Educational Review, 68(4), 497-515. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2016.1144559
Dutton Tillery, A., Varjas, K., Meyers, J., & Collins, A. S. (2010). General education teachers’ perceptions of behavior management and intervention strategies. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 12(2), 86-102. https://doi.org/10.1177/1098300708330879
Garrote, A., Dessemontet, R. S., & Opitz, E. M. (2017). Facilitating the social participation of pupils with special educational needs in mainstream schools: A review of school-based interventions. Educational Research Review, 20, 12-23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2016.11.001
Gresham, F. M. (2016). Social skills assessment and intervention for children and youth. Cambridge Journal of Education, 46(3), 319-332. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764X.2016.1195788
Hebbeler, K., & Spiker, D. (2016). Supporting young children with disabilities. The future of children, 185-205. https://doi.org/10.1353/foc.2016.0018
Hu, L. T., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural equation modeling: a multidisciplinary journal, 6(1), 1-55. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705519909540118
Kasari, C., Dean, M., Kretzmann, M., Shih, W., Orlich, F., Whitney, R., ... & King, B. (2016). Children with autism spectrum disorder and social skills groups at school: A randomized trial comparing intervention approach and peer composition. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 57(2), 171-179. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12460
Kontu, E. K., & Pirttimaa, R. A. (2016). Teaching children with intellectual disabilities: Analysis of research-based recommendations. Journal of Education and Learning, 5(2), 318-336. https://doi.org/10.5539/jel.v5n2p318
Koth, C. W., Bradsaw, C. P., Leaf, P. J. (2009) Classroom adaptation—checklist: development and factor structure. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 42 (1), 15 - 30. https://doi.org/10.1177/0748175609333560
Kourkounasiou, M. A., & Skordilis, E. K. (2014). Validity and reliability evidence of the TOCA–C in a sample of Greek students. Psychological Reports, 115(3), 766-783. https://doi.org/10.2466/08.11.PR0.115c31z5
Leaf, P. J., Schultz, D., Keys, S., & Ialong, N. (2002) The Teacher Observation of Classroom Adaptation–Checklist (TOCA–C). Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins Center for the Prevention of Youth Violence. https://doi.org/10.1093/cs/cdz022
Lorenzo-Seva, U., & Ferrando, P.J. (2019b). Robust Promin: a method for diagonally weighted factor rotation. LIBERABIT, Revista Peruana de Psicología, 25, 99-106. https://doi.org/10.24265/liberabit.2019.v25n1.08
McDaniel, S. C., Bruhn, A. L., & Troughton, L. (2017). A brief social skills intervention to reduce challenging classroom behavior. Journal of Behavioral Education 26, 53–74. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10864-016-9259-y
Mazzer, K. R., & Rickwood, D. J. (2015). Teachers' role breadth and perceived efficacy in supporting student mental health. Advances in school mental health promotion, 8(1), 29-41. https://doi.org/10.1080/1754730X.2014.978119
Meadan, H., & Monda-Amaya, L. (2008). Collaboration to promote social competence for students with mild disabilities in the general classroom: A structure for providing social support. Intervention in school and clinic, 43(3), 158-167. https://doi.org/10.1177/1053451207311617
Merrel, K. W. & Gimpel, G. A., (2014). Social skills of children and adolescents: conceptualization, assessment, treatment. New York and London: Psychology Press. https://doi.org/10.1177/073428290202000408
Payton, J., Weissberg, R. P., Durlak, J. A., Dymnicki, A. B., Taylor, R. D., Schellinger, K. B., & Pachan, M. (2008). The Positive Impact of Social and Emotional Learning for Kindergarten to Eighth-Grade Students: Findings from Three Scientific Reviews. Technical Report. Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (NJ1). https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004444515_006
Pérez-Valverde, C., Ruiz-Cecilia, R., Medina-Sánchez, L., & Guijarro-Ojeda, J. R. (2021). Coping with Challenges in Teaching Foreign Languages to Children with Mild Intellectual Disabilities: Stakeholders’ Perspectives. Mathematics, 9(8), 906. https://doi.org/10.3390/math9080906
Peterson, C., Slaughter, V., Moore, C., & Wellman, H. M. (2016). Peer social skills and theory of mind in children with autism, deafness, or typical development. Developmental psychology, 52(1), 46. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0039833
Radley, K.C., Dart, E.H. (2022). What Are Social Skills? In: Social Skills Teaching for Individuals with Autism. Springer Series on Child and Family Studies. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-91665-7_2
Renk, K., & Phares, V. (2004). Cross-informant ratings of social competence in children and adolescents. Clinical psychology review, 24(2), 239-254. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2004.01.004
Salavera, C., Usán, P., & Teruel, P. (2019). The relationship of internalizing problems with emotional intelligence and social skills in secondary education students: gender differences. Psicologia: Reflexão e Crítica, 32(4), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41155-018-0115-y
Schneider, D. R., Kaszubowski, E., Garcia, D., Scaff, L., Moraes-Cruz, R., & Sanchez, Z. M. (2020). Psychometric properties of a Brazilian adaptation of the Teacher Observation of Classroom Adaptation-Revised Scale for Children's Behavior. Acta Colombiana de Psicología, 23(1), 320-332. https://doi.org/10.14718/ACP.2020.23.1.15
Schober, P., & Vetter, T. R. (2020). Nonparametric statistical methods in medical research. Anesthesia & Analgesia, 131(6), 1862-1863. https://doi.org/10.1213/ANE.0000000000005101
Sørlie, M. A., Hagen, K. A., & Nordahl, K. B. (2021). Development of social skills during middle childhood: Growth trajectories and school-related predictors. International Journal of School & Educational Psychology, 9, 69-87. https://doi.org/10.1080/21683603.2020.1744492
Storebø, O. J., Andersen, M. E., Skoog, M., Hansen, S. J., Simonsen, E., Pedersen, N., ... & Gluud, C. (2019). Social skills training for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children aged 5 to 18 years. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (6). https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD008223.pub3
Spence, S. H. (2003). Social skills training with children and young people: Theory, evidence and practice. Child and adolescent mental health, 8(2), 84-96. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-3588.00051
Taherdoost, H. A. M. E. D., Sahibuddin, S., & Jalaliyoon, N. E. D. A. (2022). Exploratory factor analysis; concepts and theory. Advances in applied and pure mathematics, 27, 375-382. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0079-8169(08)62374-0
Tanaka, H., Sakriani, S., Neubig, G., Toda, T., Negoro, H., Iwasaka, H., & Nakamura, S. (2016). Teaching social communication skills through human-agent interaction. ACM Transactions on Interactive Intelligent Systems (TiiS), 6(2), 1-26. https://doi.org/10.1145/2937757
Tanaka H, Saga T, Iwauchi K, Honda M, Morimoto T, Matsuda Y, Uratani M, Okazaki K, Nakamura S. The Validation of Automated Social Skills Training in Members of the General Population Over 4 Weeks: Comparative Study. JMIR Form Res. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-7819-8_5
Tohara, A. J. T. (2021). Exploring digital literacy strategies for students with special educational needs in the digital age. Turkish Journal of Computer and Mathematics Education (TURCOMAT), 12(9), 3345-3358. https://doi.org/10.17762/turcomat.v12i6.4817
Timmerman, M. E., & Lorenzo-Seva, U. (2011). Dimensionality assessment of ordered polytomous items with parallel analysis. Psychological methods, 16(2), 209. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0023353
Vaughn, S., Sinagub, J., & Kim, A. H. (2004). Social competence/social skills of students with learning disabilities: Interventions and issues. In Learning about learning disabilities (pp. 341-373). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-012762533-1/50013-5
Wiley, A. L. & Siperstein, G. N. (2015). SEL for students with high- incidence disabilities. In J. A. Durlak, C. E. Domitrovich, R. P. Weissberg, & T. P. Gullota (Eds.), Handbook of social and emotional learning: Research and practice (pp. 213-228). New York, NY: The Guilford Press. https://doi.org/10.1111/ldrp.12048
Williams, B., Onsman, A., & Brown, T. (2010). Exploratory factor analysis: A five-step guide for novices. Australasian journal of paramedicine, 8, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.33151/ajp.8.3.93
World Health Organization. (2022). ICD-11: International classification of diseases (11th revision). Retrieved October 11, 2023 from https://doi.org/10.2471/BLT.10.078964
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2024/08/05
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