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CLASSROOM CONTEXTS AS THE FRAMEWORK FOR ASSESSING SOCIAL–EMOTIONAL ADJUSTMENT: A NATIONAL STUDY IN TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
Author(s) -
Mcdermott Paul A.,
Watkins Marley W.,
Drogalis Anna Rhoad,
Chao Jessica L.,
Worrell Frank C.,
Hall Tracey E.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
psychology in the schools
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.738
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 1520-6807
pISSN - 0033-3085
DOI - 10.1002/pits.21930
Subject(s) - psychology , situational ethics , context (archaeology) , normative , sample (material) , context effect , developmental psychology , rating scale , scale (ratio) , social environment , confirmatory factor analysis , social psychology , structural equation modeling , social science , paleontology , philosophy , chemistry , linguistics , physics , epistemology , chromatography , quantum mechanics , statistics , mathematics , word (group theory) , biology , sociology
Contextually based assessments reveal the circumstances accompanying maladjustment (the when, where, and with whom) and supply clues to the motivations underpinning problem behaviors. The Adjustment Scales for Children and Adolescents (ASCA) is a teacher rating scale composed of indicators describing behavior in 24 classroom situational contexts. This study examines the Trinidad and Tobago national normative process for the ASCA contextual dimensions with a representative sample of elementary school children ( N = 900). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses yielded the same three dimensions (peer context problems, teacher context problems, and learning context problems) observed in U.S. national samples. Dimensions were scaled using item response theory (IRT) and Bayesian scoring methods, with peer and learning context problems scores relating more strongly to clinical behavior disturbances and learning context problems showing stronger association with classroom learning styles. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.