Research That Matters (January 17 - 20, 2008)

Background and Purpose. The Elementary School Success Profile (ESSP) is an online assessment tool for school-based practitioners, including counselors, psychologists, student services staff, and school social workers. It collects data from children, parents, and teachers, and provides reports at both the individual and group level. Unlike the majority of tools used in schools, which focus on problem behaviors and academic deficits, the ESSP collects data on the social environment of children. The ESSP brings a critical new orientation to many school practitioners--understanding of the role of malleable ecological factors in the social and academic performance of children. The ESSP for Parents is a major component of the ESSP, with 130 questions about demographics, five domains of the social environment, and the child's behavior at home. Methods. The total sample of 558 3rd-5th students included 497 students who were representative of 3rd-5th grade students in one community's seven elementary schools, and an additional 61 students from an inner city school. The psychometric tests reported here focused on 14 scales in five domains. Exploratory factor analyses (EFA) with principal axis factoring and promax rotation were used to assess convergent and discriminant validity of scores within each domain. Simple structure with a factor loading cutoff of .40 was sought in EFA's. Internal consistency reliability and percentage of error of measurement (PE) were also assessed. Construct validity was further assessed through correlations between ESSP for Parent scales and related scales or items on the ESSP for Teachers and ESSP for Children. Results. EFA and internal consistency reliability results revealed four scales in the neighborhood domain: Neighbors Who Care (alpha = .94), Good Place to Live (alpha =.89), Negative Teen Behaviors (alpha = .91), and Positive Teen Behavior (alpha = .84); scale in the school domain: Teachers Who Care (alpha = .78); four scales in the family domain: Family Who Care (alpha = .89), Warmth and Encouragement (alpha .84), Sibling Relationships (alpha = .82 ), and Good Parenting (alpha = .72); two scales in the Parent Educational Involvement domain: Parent Involvement at School (alpha =.69), and Parent Involvement at Home (alpha = .83); and three scales in the Behavior at Home domain: Engages Socially (alpha = .87), Uses Good Social Skills (alpha = .85), and Interacts Peacefully (alpha = .78). PE's ranged from 5.2 to 11.2, with 12 of the 14 scales tested meeting recommended criteria. Construct validity was supported through significant scale correlations with child- and teacher-report items and scales. Conclusions and Implications. The findings indicate that the ESSP for Parents collects high quality data on multiple domains of the social environment and child behavior. As a substantial component of the ESSP, The ESSP for Parents represents a valuable new tool for school-based practitioners and researchers seeking to understand and effectively address the factors that contribute to poor social and academic outcomes among students. The ESSP matters because it directs the attention of school staff to the factors outside the individual child that are known to contribute to poor school outcomes.