The Development and Validation of an Informal Rating Matrix to Measure Social Skills in Early Adolescents

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop an informal social skills teacher rating scale for use with early adolescents in school settings. Despite research and clinical interest in the area, social skill has proved to be a difficult construct to define and measure. No single assessment technique has proved to be totally satisfactory and a multi‐method approach involving direct observation, teacher ratings, sociometrics and self report has been advocated as a means of attending to both the content and contextual factors associated with social skills assessment. This study will describe the development of an informal teacher rating matrix (IRM) used by teachers to identify the social skills assets and deficits of their early adolescent students and which can be used in conjunction with existing approaches.