Social-Emotional Development Assessment

135 Pages·2017·1.72 MB·English

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Doctoral Dissertations Dissertations and Theses
November 2017
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James F.M. Brenchley
University of Massachusetts Amherst
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Brenchley, James F.M., "Social-Emotional Development Assessment: Scale Development for Kindergarten
through Second Grade Youth Universal Screening" (2017). Doctoral Dissertations. 1043.
https://doi.org/10.7275/10621725.0 https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_2/1043
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Social-Emotional Development Assessment:
Scale Development for Kindergarten through Second Grade Youth Universal Screening

A Dissertation Presented
by
JAMES F. M. BRENCHLEY

Submitted to the Graduate School of the
University of Massachusetts Amherst in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

September 2017

College of Education
© Copyright by James F. M. Brenchley 2017
All Rights Reserved
Social-Emotional Development Assessment:
Scale Development for Kindergarten through Second Grade Youth Universal Screening

A Dissertation Presented

By

JAMES F. M. BRENCHLEY

Approved as to style and content by:

_________________________________________________
Sara A. Whitcomb, Chair

_________________________________________________
John M. Hintze, Member

_________________________________________________
Craig S. Wells, Member

_________________________________________________
Gloria T. DiFulvio, Member

_____________________________________________
Joseph B. Berger, Senior Associate Dean
College of Education
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I want to start out by thanking my chair, Dr. Sara Whitcomb. I could not imagine
having a better chair during this process. In all the roles a Chair may fill (collaborator,
expert, supervisor, editor), Sara was unmatched in her abilities. However, I am most
grateful to Sara for her unwavering support of the project, even when challenges
presented themselves. She was always able to work through the “problem-solving”
process and come up with new ideas or ways to think through situations. For this support,
I am incredibly grateful.
I also want to give a sincere thank you to my committee. Dr. John Hintze was a
great advisor through my time at UMass. His expertise and the connections he makes
when thinking about research are unparalleled. I thank him for all the insight he provided.
Dr. Craig Wells consistently went above and beyond as a committee member. Thank you
for steering me in the right direction when it came to the analysis of the dataset and
spending so much additional time reviewing analysis techniques with me. You have a
tremendous ability to make these concepts so much more tangible. Dr. Gloria DiFulvio
was a big part of my entire graduate career. She provided me with so many incredible
work experiences and offered such thoughtful perspectives as my outside committee
member.
I want to extend a thank you to Lisa Dinneen and Jamie Farr for their support of
my research project. I thank the teachers that participated in the different aspects of data
collection for their time and support in collection efforts.
Lastly, I want to thank my family. I’m so appreciative of my parents for their
belief in me from the start. I thank my son and writing partner, Jackson, for always
making me smile even in the face of writing blocks. Most of all, I want to thank my wife,
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Kim. I am so blessed to have her as my partner. She provides me with great balance and
support, but also is able to challenge me to accomplish more than I ever think I am able.

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ABSTRACT

SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSESSMENT:
SCALE DEVELOPMENT FOR KINDERGARTEN THROUGH SECOND GRADE
YOUTH UNIVERSAL SCREENING
SEPTEMBER 2017
JAMES F.M. BRENCHLEY, B.A., LE MOYNE COLLEGE
M.Ed., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST
Ph.D., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST
Directed by: Professor Sara Whitcomb
The goal of this project was to address a significant gap in the research literature with
regard to available screening tools that allow young children to self-identify needs related
to their social-emotional development. A review of current evidence-based social-
emotional tools led to the identification of seven domains most frequently utilized: self-
regulation, emotional regulation, social skills, self-concept, school connectedness, social
responsibility, and optimism/positivity. To accomplish this endeavor, two studies were
conducted to develop a screening measure that demonstrated adequate psychometric
properties, but also minimized cost related to time for implementation. The first study
was a review of 105 pilot scale items by kindergarten through second grade teachers (n =
12). Teachers ranked items based on importance that students demonstrate these skills at
this developmental stage and also the readability of items. Rankings were then compared
to that of the principal investigator. A balance of items from the seven domains with the
highest rankings were taken to develop a 30-item pilot survey. The second study was a
pilot of a self-report survey completed by kindergarten through second grade students (n
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= 384) from two different districts in the Northeast. This survey was completed by
students via group administration. Special consideration was given to the survey design
to maximize the likelihood that students would remain engaged and provide reliable
information. Students were presented with visuals and additional prompts to aid in
administration of the tool. Classic item analysis approaches found one item that was an
outlier and was removed from analysis. The remaining 29 items were reviewed by an
exploratory factor analysis. It was found that this scale presents with unidimensionality
and explained 30.5% of the variance. Items were then compared utilizing a graded
response model of item response theory. Following this review, 12 items were identified
for future research from five of the seven original domains (self-regulation, social skills,
school connectedness, social responsibility, and optimism). This scale will require future
assessments to further validate the measure, but marks an important step in the potential
development of a scale which allows young students to self-report social-emotional needs
and receive early intervention supports.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................................. iv
ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... vi
LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. x
LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... xi
CHAPTER
I. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM ...............................................................................1
II. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ................................................................................8
Social Emotional Learning .....................................................................................8
Response to Intervention .......................................................................................13
Universal Screenings ............................................................................................17
Youth Self-Reports ...............................................................................................21
Strength-Based Assessment ..................................................................................26
SEL Domains ........................................................................................................28

Regulation Skills .......................................................................................29
Social Skills ..............................................................................................33
Self-Concept .............................................................................................35
School Connectedness/Belonging .............................................................37
Social Responsibility ................................................................................38
Optimism/Positivity ..................................................................................40

Current Study ........................................................................................................43

III. METHODOLOGY ......................................................................................................45

Settings and Participants .......................................................................................46

Sample Size ...............................................................................................47
Recruitment Method .................................................................................47
Incentives for Participation .......................................................................48

Procedure ..............................................................................................................49

Teacher Survey .........................................................................................49
Pilot Testing of Youth Scale .....................................................................50
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Data Analytic Plan ................................................................................................52

Teacher Survey .........................................................................................52
Initial Screening Pilot ...............................................................................53

IV. RESULTS ...................................................................................................................56
Teacher Survey .....................................................................................................56
Student Pilot Rating Scale ....................................................................................58

Student Demographics ..............................................................................59
Item Descriptive Statistics ........................................................................59
Exploratory Factor Analysis .....................................................................61
Item Response Theory ..............................................................................64

Item Category Response Functions ..............................................66
Item Information Curves ...............................................................68

Domain Area Review ................................................................................70

Behavior Group Comparisons ...............................................................................73

V. DISCUSSION ..............................................................................................................75
Summary of Study Findings .................................................................................75
Teacher Survey .....................................................................................................77
Student Pilot Survey .............................................................................................78
Limitations and Future Directions ........................................................................83
Applications in the Field .......................................................................................86
Summary ...............................................................................................................89

APPENDICES
A. TEACHER SURVEY CONSENT ...................................................................90
B. PARENT CONSENT FORM ...........................................................................92
C. INITIAL ITEM POOL .....................................................................................93
D. TEACHER SURVEY ......................................................................................95
E. STUDENT SURVEY .......................................................................................98
F. ITEM CATEGORY RESPONSE FUNCTION GRAPHS .............................102
G. ITEM INFORMATION CURVES GRAPHS ...............................................107

REFERENCES ...............................................................................................................112

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