Abstract:
Schools are increasingly held accountable for student academic and behavioral performance, and showing efficacy of these treatment efforts. The primary metric for reporting academic progress, state endorsed standardized tests, does not take into account or effectively measure discrete skills or behavioral improvement. This necessitates the development of tools efficient in quantifying students' school-based behaviors. Mental health practitioners achieve this metric utilizing the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF). The Global Assessment of School Functioning (GASF) is being developed to be an efficient scale used by teachers for similar means. The aim of the present study is to examine the utility of the GASF in capturing overall school functioning. This study was broken into two phases. Teacher consultants assessed content validity and validated vignettes that would be used to assess inter-rater reliability. School personnel then rated five vignettes using the GASF and responded to questions regarding their perceptions of the instrument. Correlational statistics suggested that school personnel were able to rate vignettes with substantial reliability (.877). Responses to questions relating to the raters competency and training and the raters overall impressions of the technical quality of the GASF were positive. The culminating analysis from the data presented in this study suggest that the GASF warrants further study to determine its technical properties and utility as a rating scale that school personnel can use to benchmark and progress monitor student behavior.
Description:
Dissertation completed in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Psychology degree in School Psychology at Alfred University, Alfred, NY.
