Pr,chulogy
in
rhe
Schools
1980.
17.
335.338
SCORER RELIABILITY
ON
THE AAMD ADAPTIVE BEHAVIOR SCALE,
PUBLIC SCHOOL VERSION, PART
ONE
THELMA
GIVENS
Lawron
B.
Evans
Child Cenfer,
Augusta,
Georgia
Two
groups of scorers were used to investigate the effects of in-service training
in
scor-
ing and the reliability of scorers with the AAMD Adaptive Behavior Scale, Public
School Version, Part One. A mean scorer reliability of
.55
was found. There was a
significant difference between the coefficients of agreement computed
for
the two
groups. This established the efficacy of in-service training in scoring. Additionally,
most frequent scoring
errors
were delineated.
Since the American Association on Mental Deficiency (Grossman, 1973), Federal
government regulations (Federal Register, 1977), and many State Department
of
Educa-
tion policies (Morrow
&
Coulter, 1978) include adaptive behavior as a necessary compo-
nent
in
the definition of mental retardation, it is mandatory that the psychological
evaluations
of
children being assessed for placement
in
programs
for
the mentally
retarded include such a measure. To aid school personnel
in
obtaining information con-
cerning a child's adaptive behavior, Lambert, Windmiller, Cole, and Figueroa (1975)
altered the revised AAMD Adaptive Behavior Scale that had been developed for use with
institutionalized populations (Nihira, Foster, Shellhaas,
&
Leland, 1974) by eliminating
all items that did not pertain to school and behaviors that could not be observed at
school. This Public School Version of the Scale was then standardized on
2,600
Califor-
nia school children. A statewide field test of the Public School Version
of
the Scale
in
Florida (Bureau of Education for Exceptional Students, 1977) and
in
Mississippi
(Givens, Note
1)
validated the results
of
the original study.
Although school systems may routinely provide training
in
the use of the Adaptive
Behavior Scale, Public School Version (ABS-PSV), no research evidence exists that
demonstrates the need
for
such training. Indeed, the availability of the ABS-PSV to a
wide variety of professionals-educators, administrators, counselors, and psy-
chologists-implies that no specialized training
in
scoring is required. This assumption
that the scoring directions
of
the ABS-PSV are self-explanatory warrants investigation,
particularly since correct scoring is a necessary, though not sufficient, precursor of cor-
rect interpretation. Thus, an examination of
the
reliability of scoring the ABS-PSV, and
an examination
of
the efficacy of providing training
in
scoring, are considered essential
references
for
Scale users.
METHOD
Scorers
Since teachers are the individuals who
will
most likely complete the ABS-PSV (both
the rating and scoring), two scoring groups
of
six members each were chosen from
graduate classes
in
education and special education. The selections were random, as was
the choice
of
the group to whom in-service training was given.
Requests for reprints should be sent to Thelma Givens, Lawton B. Evans Child Center,
1399
Walton Way,
'
The assistance of
Dr.
Howard
N.
Anderson is gratefully acknowledged.
Augusta. GA
30901.
335