Social Competence—Teacher Post-Ratings (TPR)

Abstract

The Social Competence—Teacher Post-Ratings (TPR) scale is an instrument designed for use by educators to assess changes in a student’s social and academic functioning over a specific period, typically a school year. Developed by the Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group, this tool captures teacher perceptions across critical domains, including academic performance, emotion regulation, and prosocial behavior. The rating system measures improvement or deterioration relative to an expected level, providing valuable data for evaluating the efficacy of intervention and prevention programs aimed at improving youth competence.

Keywords

Social Competence, Teacher Rating Scale, Emotion Regulation, Prosocial Behavior, Academic Skills, Child Assessment, Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group, Intervention Effectiveness.

Authors

Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group

Purpose

The primary purpose of the TPR scale is to quantify changes in a student’s observed social competence and behavioral adjustment within the school setting. It serves as an outcome measure, allowing researchers and practitioners to gauge whether students have improved or worsened in specific skills following participation in an intervention program, such as the comprehensive Fast Track Project.

By relying on teacher post-ratings, the instrument utilizes the unique perspective of educators who observe students across varied social and academic contexts daily. This methodology focuses specifically on measuring longitudinal growth or decline, distinguishing it from instruments that measure absolute competence levels at a single point in time.

Construct

The TPR scale measures a multidimensional construct of Social Competence, which is broken down into three core subdomains reflecting crucial areas of youth development and school success. These domains include academic achievement skills, the capacity for emotional management, and positive peer interaction.

The subdomains assessed are:

• School and Academics: Focusing on foundational reading skills and comprehension necessary for academic success.
• Emotion Regulation: Assessing the child’s ability to manage strong feelings, calm down when upset, and verbally identify emotions in themselves and others.
• Prosocial Behavior: Evaluating the capacity for positive social interaction, including empathy, cooperation, sharing, and conflict resolution.

Validity

Specific, detailed validity statistics (e.g., criterion validity, construct validity) for the TPR scale are typically housed within the technical documentation produced by the Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group (CPPRG). Given its origin within a major, long-term intervention study (like the Fast Track Project), the scale is assumed to possess strong ecological validity, reflecting real-world teacher observations of student behavior and academic progress.

The content validity is supported by the items directly addressing established components of school readiness and positive youth development, aligning with widely accepted definitions of social and emotional learning (SEL). Researchers utilizing this scale are directed to the primary technical report for comprehensive documentation of its psychometric properties.

Reliability

Reliability data, including internal consistency (e.g., Cronbach’s alpha) and inter-rater reliability (given that multiple teachers might rate similar students), are documented in the associated technical reports. Measures developed by the CPPRG are generally rigorously tested to ensure consistency in measurement, particularly when used repeatedly across different cohorts and over extended periods in longitudinal studies.

Factor Analysis

The underlying structure of the TPR scale, as suggested by the three identified subdomains (School and Academics, Emotion Regulation, Prosocial Behavior), implies a factor structure that separates cognitive/academic competence from socio-emotional skills. Formal factor analytic studies (e.g., Exploratory Factor Analysis or Confirmatory Factor Analysis) detailing the loading of the 10 items onto these specific factors would be presented in the full technical documentation published by Duke University. This analysis confirms that the scale items accurately measure distinct, yet related, aspects of overall social competence.

Instrument

Test Type: Observational Rating Scale (Teacher-Report)

Format: 10 items rated on a 6-point Likert-type scale measuring change/improvement.

Language Available: English (Primary research language)

Population Group: Children and Youth participating in school-based prevention studies.

Age Group: Typically utilized with elementary school-aged children (K-5), though applicable to youth populations involved in specific research projects.

Population Details: Used extensively within longitudinal studies focusing on developmental psychopathology and the prevention of conduct problems.

Test Methodology: Teachers rate the degree to which a student has improved or worsened in specific competencies over the course of the rating period. The point values are assigned as follows:

1. Much worse = 1
2. Somewhat worse = 2
3. A little worse = 3
4. A little improved = 4
5. Somewhat improved = 5
6. Much improved = 6

Values are typically summed or averaged for each respondent. Higher scores indicate improvement in social competence over the course of the school year or intervention period.

Keywords

Teacher Post-Ratings, Fast Track Project, Developmental Psychopathology, Social and Emotional Learning, Academic Achievement, Change Measurement, Intervention Outcomes, Duke University.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not specified in source data. Refer to individual members of the Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not specified in source data.

Correspondence Address: Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group, c/o Department of Psychology, Duke University, Durham, NC (circa 1991).

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The scale was developed and documented in 1991 as part of a technical report supporting major federally funded research.

Test Year: 1991

Permissions & Fee: The instrument is often available for non-commercial academic and research use through the originating research group (CPPRG/Fast Track Project). Researchers should contact the corresponding institution (Duke University or the central coordinating site for the Fast Track Project) for formal permission protocols and usage fees, if applicable.

The instrument is publicly accessible via a comprehensive compendium of assessment tools. The original PDF can be downloaded here: http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/YV_Compendium.pdf (The instrument is found on page 245 of “Measuring Violence-Related Attitudes, Behaviors, and Influences Among Youths: A Compendium of Assessment Tools”).

Reference’s

The primary source for this instrument is:

Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group. Technical Report. Durham, NC: Department of Psychology, Duke University, 1991.

Further documentation regarding the scale and the project methodology can be accessed via the Fast Track Project technical reports online: http://www.fasttrackproject.org/techrept/t/tsc/

The instrument is also published in:

Measuring Violence-Related Attitudes, Behaviors, and Influences Among Youths: A Compendium of Assessment Tools. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Items of the Social Competence—Teacher Post-Ratings (TPR)

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

1. Ability to sound out unfamiliar words.

2. Ability to read sentences and paragraphs and answer questions about what they have just read.

3. Ability to stop and calm down when excited or upset.

4. Ability to verbally label emotions of self and others.

5. Ability to show empathy and compassion for others’ feelings.

6. Ability to handle disagreements with others in a positive way.

7. Ability to initiate interactions and join in play with others in an appropriate and positive manner.

8. Ability to provide help, share materials, and act cooperatively with others.

9. Ability to take turns, play fair, and follow the rules of the game.

10. Self-esteem