Social/Emotional Assessment
I.
Understanding
of the purpose of Social Assessment:
A Social Assessment is part of a
comprehensive Child Study Team evaluation that is conducted to determine
whether or not a child can be found eligible for Special Education and Related
services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). It is
presented to an IEP (Individual Educational Planning) Team that consists of teachers,
parents, the student (when appropriate), administrators, a school psychologist,
an LDT-C (Learning Disabilities Teacher Consultant), and possibly other
specialists such as Occupational, Physical and Speech/Language Therapists as
well as other professionals that may need to be involved such as Behaviorists
(that specialize in spectrum disorders), Neurodevelopmental doctors and other
healthcare professionals. The purpose of the social assessment is to:
A.
Present a comprehensive narrative of the whole child
within their environment, including their strengths and challenges.
B.
Assess the parent’s & student’s perspective of the
problematic issues and their receptiveness to change.
C.
To provide the IEP team with pertinent information
about the student's social-emotional functioning and how this impacts their
learning process, as well as provide recommendations to ameliorate problematic
issues.
II.
Components
of the Social Assessment
A.
Identifying information.
Basic information such as name,
address, phone number, age, grade, etc. A cover page on this document should
indicate that this is confidential information.
B.
Reason for referral.
Why is the team conducting this
evaluation? The history of their functioning or lack thereof can be elaborated
on in the other sections of the report. There are basically two reasons to
evaluate a child:
1.
Student is being reevaluated as part of the mandated
triennial requirement.
2.
Parent/ Teacher requested the Child Study Team conduct
an initial evaluation due to the student’s continued academic difficulties
which cannot be ameliorated within the regular education program.
C.
Sources of information.
Several sources should be
considered when conducting a social assessment. They are:
1.
Observation of the pupil
2.
Pupil interview
3.
Parent interview
4.
Teacher interview
5.
Review of educational history
D.
Family and social development.
This purpose of this section is to
provide the team with a basic profile of the family and any history of learning
disabilities within. It is also the section when current familial situations
are explored and their subsequent impact on the child’s learning process
considered. The Social/Emotional
Development of the child is also covered in this section.
1.
Elements to include for the Family History are:
a.
The parent’s marital status
b.
If the parents are divorced, information about
custody/visitation, etc.
c.
All the names, ages and occupations of adults in the
family as well as their relationship to and with the child
d.
Names ages and educational status of children in the
home as well as their relationship to and with the child
e.
History of where the family has lived
f.
The general (emotional) climate in the home
g.
Educational history of parents and any other
significant family members
h.
Any significant changes in the family that may have a
social/emotional impact on the student
i.
Activities that the family participates in together
j.
Any other pertinent information the family would like
to share as part of the investigation
2.
Social/Emotional Development of the child
This is the section where you want
to assess their adaptive behaviors as well as determine whether or not there
are any emotional/social issues that need to be addressed. The main thing to
remember is everything needs to be related back to how and why any dysfunction
in this area would adversely affect the learning process.
The
following questions should be considered to construct a clear picture of how
the child is functioning in the social/emotional realm:
a. How
is the child’s general demeanor at home?
b. Does
the child generally get along with the other family members?
c. How
does the child manifest anger? Sadness? Fear? Happiness? (Are any
manifestations to these feelings particularly problematic?)
d. Does
the child exhibit any fearlessness? Do they exhibit appropriate caution for
their own safety?
e. What
methods do you use to foster compliance when the child is resistant?
f. How
do you positively reinforce the child
g. How
would you characterize the student’s self –esteem? Do they ever make any
negative comments about themselves?
h. Is
the child able to make and maintain friendships?
i.
Do they participate in peer related activities?
j.
What are their strengths? Challenges?
E.
Developmental History:
When a child is initially
evaluated, part of the evaluation is a comprehensive health update conducted by
the school nurse or a doctor. It’s important to rule out any physical issues
with a child’s senses or brain function before proceeding with a CST
evaluation. Most healthcare professionals will provide a detailed outline of
developmental milestones and note any issues with the child’s achievement of
this. For younger children, this section of the report is mostly completed by
the nurse or doctor, however for older children the following should be
considered:
1. Has the student has achieved all the
developmental milestones within age appropriate time limits.
2. Was there any history of Developmental delays?
Did they have to see a specialist for treatment and what was the outcome?
3. How is their overall current health?
4. Are they on any medications?
5. How are their eating habits? Sleeping habits?
Hygienic habits?
F.
School History
This section is where a detailed
educational history is explained as well as how the student is currently
functioning. Questions to be considered are:
1.
What are the student’s current classes and grades?
2.
If this is a re-evaluation, what is the special
education history of the child?
3.
What interventions have been tried to help the child
with their learning issues? What was the outcome of these attempts?
4.
What are the team’s overall concerns about how the
child is academically functioning?
5.
What do the teacher’s say about how the student
functions?
6.
What do the parents hope this evaluation process will
do for their child?
G.
Evidence of student’s functioning and its
relationship to the educational setting
Relevant Behavior and Impact
This is the most important section
of this report. Now that the social/emotional narrative has been provided for
this child, how this impacts their learning process is crucial information to
the team. Whether or not a child had the adaptive behaviors to adjust to
changes in their educational program is important to their success.
Elements to consider in this
section are:
1.
Is the student receptive to help?
2.
What strengths does the child possess that can be
utilized to help them address their challenges?
3.
How do their emotional or social issues impact their
learning?
The second part of this section
should include some strategies to address any issues noted. For example, techniques
and activities to support personal and social development are:
a.
Provide opportunities for success
b.
Utilize praise and encouragement
c.
Point out accomplishments and strengths, not
shortcomings and weaknesses
d.
Clearly define limits and expectations
e.
Encourage peer support and approval
f.
Assist student in developing positive peer relationships
H.
Observation & Interview
The team is required to do at least
one observation of the student in their classroom setting. This is usually done
by the Learning Consultant or School Psychologist. The Psychologist will also
conduct an interview as part of their evaluation. The Social worker however
should also do both an observation of the student and an interview.
1.
Observation. Elements to note are:
a.
Is the student able to make and maintain eye contact?
b.
What is their basic demeanor and affect?
2.
Interview: Elements to note are:
a.
What is the student’s perception of the evaluation
process?
b.
Are they receptive to receiving assistance? Can they
effectively access resources?
I.
Summary
Typically, and IEP will provide the
summaries of all the evaluations from which data is received, so it’s important
to make sure the most important elements you want the team to know about this
student is included in this section. Teachers will also typically skim the
summaries of reports when learning about new students.
J.
Signature
For your social assessment to be official, it needs to be signed and dated by the certified social worker and/or the intern who prepared the report
