Psychology Faculty Publications

A Comparison of Parent and Teacher Ratings of Children's Behaviors

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

12-2005

Journal Title

Educational Research Quarterly

Volume

29

Issue

2

First Page

18

Last Page

28

Abstract

Previous studies have compared the accuracy of parent, teacher, and clinician ratings of children behavior, especially in diagnostic analysis. However, many have questioned the validity of the tests and the value of each rater. While some research has found differences among raters, few had looked at samples of non-referred children. We wanted to study "normal" children, and we hypothesized finding no significant difference between the two raters. In our study, we administered the Clinical Assessment of Behavior to teachers and parents of students ranging from six to eighteen years old. When comparing these ratings, we found, as hypothesized, the parent and teacher ratings of children's behavior to possess statistically significant agreement. The only domain with significant disagreement was the externalizing domain. We found several potential causes for these findings consistent with previous research and suggested areas for further research, especially regarding the importance of the various raters for children who have not been clinically referred.

Keywords

Behavior, children, parents, teachers

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