Social Competence – Teacher 25

Abstract

The Social Competence- Teacher 25 (SCT-25) is a widely utilized psychological rating scale designed for use by teachers to assess the observed social and behavioral competencies of children, typically within elementary school settings. Developed primarily under the auspices of the Fast Track Project, this instrument is crucial for evaluating developmental trajectories and the effectiveness of prevention programs aimed at reducing conduct problems. The scale focuses specifically on a child’s ability to manage their emotions and engage in Prosocial Behavior, reflecting key elements of classroom adjustment and peer interaction.

Keywords

Social Competence, Teacher Rating Scale, Emotion Regulation, Prosocial Behavior, Childhood Assessment, Fast Track Project, Classroom Behavior, Behavioral Assessment.

Authors

The scale is primarily associated with the Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group (CPPRG), adapted from foundational measures of social skills and self-control, including work by Clark, Gresham, & Elliott (1985), Gesten (1976), and Kendall & Wilcox (1979). Technical reports detailing the scale’s psychometrics were later compiled by CPPRG and individuals such as Corrigan, A. (2003).

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Social Competence- Teacher 25 is to provide a standardized, observational assessment of a child’s adaptive functioning within the school environment. Teachers, who have sustained interaction with the child in various social and academic contexts, rate the frequency and quality of specific behaviors. This rating helps researchers and practitioners identify strengths and deficits in areas critical for academic success and healthy peer relationships.

The scale serves as a monitoring tool, particularly within large-scale longitudinal studies like the Fast Track Project, allowing for the tracking of changes in behavior and social skills over time, often in response to intervention efforts. The focus is on observable behaviors that directly impact classroom management and social integration.

Construct

The SCT-25 measures the overarching construct of Social Competence, which is operationalized through the assessment of several domains essential for successful school adjustment. While the scale contains 25 items, the scoring structure explicitly details two primary subscales: Prosocial Behavior and Emotion Regulation.

• Prosocial Behavior: This subscale assesses a child’s capacity for positive social interaction, cooperation, empathy, and appropriate self-expression. High scores indicate a child is helpful, shares, works well in a group, and understands others’ feelings (e.g., items 4, 6, 9-11, 14-19).
• Emotion Regulation: This subscale measures the child’s ability to manage internal states and behavioral impulses, reflecting self-control, coping mechanisms, and adherence to rules. High scores indicate the child can accept limits, cope with failure, and control their temper (e.g., items 1-3, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13).

Additionally, items 20 through 25 focus heavily on skills related to School and Academics, such as attention, task persistence, and following directions, highlighting the scale’s relevance to overall classroom functioning, although these items are not explicitly grouped into a third scored subscale in the provided scoring instructions.

Validity

Evidence for the scale’s validity is derived primarily from its use within major longitudinal studies, where it demonstrates expected correlations with other measures of social adjustment, behavior problems, and academic achievement. As an adaptation of established measures (like those by Gesten, and Clark et al.), the SCT-25 possesses strong content validity, ensuring the items comprehensively cover the domains of social interaction and self-control pertinent to primary-grade children.

Construct validity has been supported by technical reports demonstrating that the derived subscales (Prosocial Behavior and Emotion Regulation) align theoretically with known components of social competence. Furthermore, the instrument is often used as a predictor variable, showing predictive validity for later outcomes related to delinquency and academic success, consistent with the goals of the Fast Track Project.

Reliability

The reliability of the Social Competence Scale – Teacher Version has been documented in various technical reports, including those published by the Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group (1995). These studies typically report high internal consistency for the composite total score and its primary subscales.

High internal consistency, generally measured using Cronbach’s alpha, suggests that the items within each subscale (Prosocial Behavior and Emotion Regulation) are highly correlated and measure the same underlying construct reliably. Additionally, strong inter-rater reliability among teachers, or stability over short periods (test-retest reliability), would be expected given its use as a core measure in intervention research, although specific coefficients must be consulted in the technical documentation, such as the document detailing the Psychometric Properties of the scale.

Factor Analysis

Factor analytic studies of the SCT-25 generally support a multi-factor structure, confirming the theoretical distinction between the core behavioral domains. The scoring instructions explicitly define two primary, empirically supported factors:

1. Prosocial Behavior: Items 4, 6, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19 load onto this factor, reflecting cooperative and affiliative behaviors.
2. Emotion Regulation: Items 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 12, and 13 load onto this factor, reflecting self-control, impulse management, and coping mechanisms.

Scores for each subscale are typically derived by averaging the point values of the respective items. The remaining items (20-25) often cluster into a third domain related to academic engagement and task persistence, although the primary focus for social intervention evaluation remains on the two explicitly defined social and emotional factors.

Instrument

Test Type: Behavioral Rating Scale (Teacher Report)

Format: 5-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (Not at all) to 5 (Very well).

Language Available: Primarily English (used extensively in U.S.-based research projects).

Population Group: Children and Youth.

Age Group: Typically utilized with elementary school students (e.g., Grade 1 through Grade 4/Year 4, corresponding to ages 6-10).

Population Details: Used extensively in general population samples and high-risk samples within developmental and prevention science research.

Test Methodology: Teachers rate the child on 25 specific behavioral statements based on their observations of the child in the classroom and school environment. Higher scores indicate greater levels of social competence and adaptive functioning.

Keywords

Teacher assessment, Child development, Behavioral disorders, Rating instrument, Longitudinal study, Self-control, School adjustment, Prevention research.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not specified in source materials; primarily linked to institutional reports (CPPRG).

Affiliation Email addresses: Not specified in source materials; associated with Duke University and Pennsylvania State University (CPPRG affiliations).

Correspondence Address: Correspondence is typically directed to the Fast Track Project administrative offices or the Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The Social Competence Scale – Teacher 25 is widely available through technical reports associated with the Fast Track Project, suggesting it is generally available for non-commercial academic research use, often without a direct fee, provided proper citation is given. The foundational work and initial usage date back to the early 1990s, with a key technical report detailing the Grade 3/Year 4 version published by Corrigan in 2003. The scale is based on instruments developed as early as 1976 and 1985.

Reference’s

• Clark, L., Gresham, F.M., & Elliott, S.N. (1985). Development and validation of a social skills assessment measure: The TROSS-C. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 4, 347-356.
• Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group. Technical Report. Durham, NC: Department of Psychology, Duke University, 1991.
• Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group (CPPRG). (1995). Psychometric Properties of the Social Competence Scale – Teacher and Parent Ratings. (Fast Track Project Technical Report). University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University.
• Corrigan, A. (2003). Social Competence Scale – Teacher Version, Grade 3 /Year 4 (Fast Track Project Technical Report). Available from the Fast Track Project Web site, http://www.fasttrackproject.org
• Gesten, E.L. (1976). A Health Resources Inventory: The development of a measure of the personal and social competence of primary-grade children. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 44, 775-786.
• Kendall, P.C., & Wilcox, L.E. (1979). Self-control in children: Development of a rating scale. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 47, 1020-1029.

The original instrument details can be found in a compendium titled Measuring Violence-Related Attitudes, Behaviors, and Influences Among Youths: A Compendium of Assessment Tools. The original PDF can be downloaded here: http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/YV_Compendium.pdf

Further technical documentation is available from the Fast Track Project, including: http://www.fasttrackproject.org/techrept/s/sct/sct4tech.pdf and http://www.fasttrackproject.org/techrept/s/scp/scp2tech.pdf.

Items of the Social Competence- Teacher 25

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

1. Can accept things not going his/her way.
2. Copes well with failure.
3. Accepts legitimate imposed limits.
4. Expresses needs and feelings appropriately.
5. Thinks before acting.
6. Resolves peer problems on his/her own.
7. Can calm down when excited or all wound up.
8. Can wait in line patiently when necessary.
9. Is very good at understanding other people’s feelings.
10. Is aware of the effect of his/her behavior on others.
11. Works well in a group.
12. Plays by the rules of the game.
13. Controls temper when there is a disagreement.
14. Shares materials with others.
15. Cooperates with peers without prompting.
16. Is helpful to others.
17. Listens to others’ points of view.
18. Can give suggestions and opinions without being bossy.
19. Acts friendly towards others
20. Functions Well with Distractions
21. Self-Starter
22. Works Well Without Adults
23. Stays on Task
24. Pays Attention
25. Follows Teachers Verbal Directions