Teacher Rating Scale of School Adjustment [TRSA-52]

Description

The Teacher Rating Scale of School Adjustment (TRSSA/TRSA-52) is a 52-item teacher-report instrument designed to assess children’s adjustment to the school environment, particularly during the early years of education. Teachers evaluate each student’s behavior, emotional responses, participation, and relationships within the classroom.

Dimensions

The Greek version assesses five dimensions:

  • Cooperativeness: The child’s ability to follow classroom rules, cooperate, and respond appropriately to instructions.
  • Teacher Relationship: The quality of the child’s relationship and emotional connection with the teacher.
  • Spontaneous Participation: The child’s willingness to initiate and participate actively in classroom activities.
  • Positive Feelings About School: The degree to which the child enjoys school and expresses positive attitudes toward the school experience.
  • Behavioral Self-Regulation: The child’s ability to regulate behavior, impulses, and emotional reactions in the classroom.

Aim

The scale aims to provide a systematic assessment of children’s school adjustment. It can help:

  • Identify students experiencing social, emotional, or behavioral adjustment difficulties.
  • Examine relationships between school adjustment, academic performance, and peer or teacher relationships.
  • Support the planning and evaluation of educational or psychosocial interventions.
  • Monitor changes in children’s adjustment over time.

The scale is intended primarily for assessment and research and should not be used as a stand-alone diagnostic instrument.

Data Analysis and Use

Scores should generally be calculated separately for each dimension rather than combined into a single overall score. Recommended analyses include:

  • Means, standard deviations, and score distributions for each subscale.
  • Internal-consistency analysis using Cronbach’s alpha or McDonald’s omega.
  • Correlations with academic achievement, peer acceptance, school engagement, and teacher–student relationship measures.
  • Comparisons between groups or measurement occasions.
  • Confirmatory factor analysis when the scale is used with a new population.

Published findings for the Greek adaptation indicate internal-consistency coefficients ranging approximately from .69 to .94 across the five dimensions.

Scoring

Each item is rated on a four-point frequency scale:

  1. Never
  2. Rarely
  3. Sometimes
  4. Often

Negatively worded items must be reverse-scored according to the official scoring key before subscale scores are calculated. Scores may be expressed as sums or means, provided that the same method is used consistently.

Higher scores indicate a stronger presence of the characteristic measured by each dimension. Therefore, their interpretation depends on the subscale: high scores on cooperation or positive feelings about school indicate better adjustment, whereas negatively oriented items must first be reversed.

The instrument does not have a universally accepted diagnostic cut-off score. Interpretation should be based on normative data, the characteristics of the population, and complementary information from other sources.

References

Birch, S. H., & Ladd, G. W. (1997). The teacher–child relationship and children’s early school adjustment. Journal of School Psychology, 35(1), 61–79. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-4405(96)00029-5

Betts, L. R., & Rotenberg, K. J. (2007). A short form of the Teacher Rating Scale of School Adjustment. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 25(2), 150–164. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734282906296406

Sotiriou, A., & Zafiropoulou, M. (2003). School adjustment and assessment of primary-school pupils by their teachers. Psychology, 10(1), 96–118.