Validity of the school setting interview for students with special educational needs in regular high school – a Rasch analysis

Abstract

BackgroundParticipation in education is a vital component of adolescents’ everyday life and a determinant of health and future opportunities in adult life. The School Setting Interview (SSI) is an instrument which assesses student-environment fit and reflects the potential needs for adjustments to enhance students’ participation in school activities. The aim of the study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the SSI for students with special educational needs in regular high school.MethodsA sample of 509 students with special educational needs was assessed with the SSI. The polytomous unrestricted Rasch model was used to analyze the psychometric properties of the SSI regarding targeting, model fit, differential item functioning (DIF), response category functioning and unidimensionality.ResultsThe SSI generally confirmed fit to assumptions of the Rasch model. Reliability was acceptable (0.73) and the SSI scale was able to separate students into three different levels of student-environment fit. DIF among gender was detected in item “Remember things” and in item “Homework” DIF was detected among students with or without diagnosis. All items had disordered thresholds. The SSI demonstrated unidimensionality and no response dependence was present among items.ConclusionThe results suggest that the SSI is valid for use among students with special educational needs in order to provide and evaluate environmental adjustments. However, the items with the detected DIF and the SSI rating scale with its disordered thresholds needs to be further scrutinized.

Which students need accommodations the most, and to what extent are their needs met by regular upper secondary school? A cross-sectional study among students with special educational needs

“…A rating of 4 (Perfect fit) is obtained when the student perceives that the student-environment fit is ideal and no accommodations are needed. Psychometric studies have supported evidence of validity of the SSI (Hemmingsson and Borell 1996;Hemmingsson, Kottorp, and Bernspång 2004) and a recent Rasch analysis provided support of validity of the SSI for students with special educational needs in regular upper secondary education (Yngve et al 2018).…”

Individual Adjustment Needs for Students in Regular Upper Secondary School

“…The SSI assessment was considered to be useful since it reflected each student's perceptions of adjustment needs in everyday activities at school. Furthermore, the SSI has been shown to be a psychometrically sound assessment for students in need of special educational support in order to identify student-environment fit (Hemmingsson et al, 2004;Yngve et al, 2018). However, several limitations must be kept in mind while interpreting the results of this study.…”

“…For all participants, the assessment School Setting Interview, (SSI) (Hemmingsson et al, 2014), was used. The SSI is a psychometrically sound and person-centred assessment developed to examine the level of student-environment fit of school-aged children and adolescents (Hemmingsson, Kottorp, & Bernspång, 2004;Yngve, Munkholm, Lidström, Hemmingsson, & Ekbladh, 2018). The SSI consists of a semi-structured interview designed to identify how students experience their school activities and the environment where those activities are performed.…”

“…Unmet needs imply an Unfit (rating 1) i.e., when the student perceives that the school environment needs to be modified and he or she has not received any adjustments at all (Hemmingsson et al, 2014). The SSI has been tested in regard to psychometric properties such as construct validity and internal consistency reliability with satisfactory results (Hemmingsson et al, 2004;Yngve et al, 2018).…”