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Validity and reliability of the school function assessment in elementary school students with disabilities
Patricia L Davies1, Pepper Lee Soon, Michele Young
1Department of Occupational Therapy, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA. pdavies@lamar.colostate.edu
Physical & Occupational Therapy in Pediatrics
|July 20, 2004
Summary
The School Function Assessment (SFA) shows good validity for identifying students with learning disabilities and autism. Interrater reliability between occupational therapists and teachers is moderate for SFA scores.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Occupational Therapy
- Educational Psychology
- Special Education
Background:
- The School Function Assessment (SFA) is a tool used to evaluate students' performance in school.
- Assessing school function is crucial for identifying needs and tailoring interventions for students with disabilities.
- Understanding the psychometric properties of assessment tools like the SFA is essential for accurate interpretation and reliable application.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the validity of the School Function Assessment (SFA) using a known-groups method.
- To determine the interrater reliability of occupational therapist and teacher ratings on the SFA.
- To investigate the SFA's ability to differentiate between students with learning disabilities (LD), autism, and traumatic brain injury (TBI).
Main Methods:
- Validity was assessed using the known-group method with 35 students (K-7th grade) across three diagnostic groups: LD, autism, and TBI.
- Kruskal-Wallis analyses and discriminant function analyses were employed to examine score differences and classification accuracy.
- Interrater reliability was evaluated by analyzing SFA ratings from 16 students' occupational therapists and teachers using intraclass correlations.
Main Results:
- Significant differences in SFA scores were observed among the LD, autism, and TBI groups (p <.01).
- Discriminant analyses showed high correct classification for students with autism and LD, but lower accuracy for students with TBI.
- Moderate intraclass correlations (ranging from .68 to .73) indicated acceptable interrater reliability between occupational therapists and teachers for SFA scores.
Conclusions:
- The SFA demonstrates validity in differentiating students with LD and autism, supporting score interpretation for these populations.
- The SFA's classification accuracy for students with TBI was limited, suggesting potential challenges in systematic pattern identification for this group.
- Moderate interrater reliability suggests that occupational therapists and teachers can achieve consistent ratings when using the SFA, though further refinement may be beneficial.