Agreement between Teacher-Student Ratings of Social Skills and Problem Domains Among High School Freshmen Students

Background: Teachers play an important role in identifying students who struggle with their social-emotional learning needs (SEL) because of their close interactions in the classroom. The early identification of students with poor social skills, mental health problems, and those who exhibit problem behaviors such as aggression, bullying and hyperactivity are critical so that early intervention and supports can be provided. While teachers are critical in understanding risk for poor outcomes, no studies have examined the relations between the degree of teacher-student agreement on SEL needs and students’ academics and behaviors. Students may have a different understanding of their SEL needs as compared to their teachers, and the level of teacher-student discrepancies may be critical in understanding student success. The purpose of this study is to examine how student-teacher agreement on SEL needs are associated with students’ grade point averages, attendance, and number of office disciplinary referrals.

Methods: Data is from a high school in Central Illinois, which consists of 263 pairs of freshmen class students and one teacher who knows the student best. A total of fourteen freshmen class teachers were involved in this study. The Social Skills Improvement System (SSIS) was used to evaluate the students. Students and teachers completed the SSIS independently at the end of the ninth-grade year. Based on the difference of the teacher and student ratings, three groups were created: 1) mutual agreement group, 2) teacher over-rated group, and 3) teacher under-rated group. Subsequently, ANOVA with post-hoc tests were used to compare mean differences in three end of ninth-grade outcomes that were based on school administrative records: grade point averages, attendance, and number of disciplinary referrals.

Results: The percentages of mutual teacher-student agreement on social skills domains ranged from 48% to 65%, and 67% to 87% for problem domains. Agreements in social skills such as communication, cooperation, empathy, and engagement were significantly associated with differences in academics and behaviors. Students whose teachers rated higher than their own on cooperation scored statistically significantly higher GPAs than those whose teachers rated lower than their own. Students who were rated lower on communication by their teachers than their own reports were referred for disciplinary infractions three times higher than those that were mutually or over-rated. Additionally, agreements in problem domains were also important in understanding outcomes. Discrepancies in teacher-student agreement in externalizing, bullying, and hyperactivity concerns were associated with differences in grades, attendance, and disciplinary referrals. For those students whose teachers rated lower than their own on bullying attended more days at school than those whose teachers rated higher than student ratings.

Conclusions and Implications: This study is the first to evaluate for teacher-student ratings among high school freshmen students, and their associated academic and behavioral outcomes. Findings highlight the importance of understanding levels of agreement between teacher-student ratings of social skills and problem domains, particularly during their initial year in high school. Implications for school social workers to promote better teacher-student agreement will be discussed.