Taking data on social skills can be difficult because many social skills are complex and involve several steps.
How can you say if someone is participating in a conversation with a simple plus or minus? Can you easily assign a percentage of involvement in a group play?
Rubrics are the perfect solution for taking data on social skills. Rubrics include multiple skills and break down each skill in levels of competencies. You can rate each skill and end up with a numeric value. The point of taking data is to show growth and identify areas of need. Using these rubrics, you will be able to readily show growth over time and pinpoint specific areas to target with additional instruction.
While the student is participating in the social activity, begin scoring the responses on the rubric. After the activity is done, rate each section and add up the total. It’s great because it gives a numeric value to a group of skills. This way you are able to track several components of the larger skill. You can incorporate rubrics right into your IEP goals. Instead of the ever annoying “Participates in a conversation with 80% accuarcy” (um, what?!) – you can say “… will score an 11 or above on attached rubric on 3 consecutive days.” It’s objective, specific, and measureable!
I’ve got an awesome new resources for topic! Check out my Social Skill Rubrics! There are 10 rubrics included in this resource. The editable versions are included in the zip file so you can customize to meet the needs of your students. The same rubric is included twice on each page so you can easily take data on multiple students at once or use the same page for two days.
There are 3 Visual Rubrics included in this resource. These are to use directly with the student. Before beginning the social activity, review the criteria and goals. After the the social activity, add the scores on the rubric together and provide feedback for each skill. I love laminating these and using with students in small groups. Then I transfer the scores to the data! #inksaver
Use the data sheet to track the scores over time. Use one data for each student and add the score on the rubric for each session. The rubrics definitely take up a little real estate on each page so you will want a way to really see that progress develop over time. Transfer the scores to the data sheet so you can see if skills are improving!
Sneaky hint: For rubric components that include a frequency for the skill (ie. comments more than 3 times), use the space under the skill in the first column to keep track with tallies or check marks.
Learn more about this resource here!
Latest posts by Sasha Long, M.A., BCBA (see all)
- Using TAH Curriculum for Homeschooling from a Homeschooling Parent - September 10, 2022
- Using The Autism Helper Curriculum for Homeschool - August 8, 2022
- Literacy Subject Overview in The Autism Helper Curriculum - August 2, 2022
