Abstract
The purpose of this investigation was to develop and initially validate the Intervention Selection Profile–Social Skills (ISP-SS), a novel brief social skills assessment method intended for use at Tier 2. Participants included 54 elementary school teachers and their 243 randomly selected students. Teachers rated students on two rating scales, including the Social and Academic Behavior Risk Screener (SABRS) and the Social Skills Improvement System (SSIS). Items corresponding to the SABRS Social Behavior scale were considered for inclusion in the ISP-SS, given the research supporting the scale’s reliability, validity, and diagnostic accuracy as a predictor of social skill performance. A clinimetric approach was used in selecting SABRS items for the ISP-SS based upon applied utility, which was defined as the accuracy with which items predicted the presence of social skill acquisition deficits within broad skill domains. Findings supported the selection of six items, which yielded acceptable levels of agreement and classification accuracy. ISP-SS items evidenced adequate internal consistency, with alpha coefficients falling within acceptable ranges. Taken together, findings yielded initial support for the use of the ISP-SS in identifying acquisition deficits to be targeted via Tier 2 social skills instruction. Implications for practice and future directions for research are presented.
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