Teacher Nomination: German Version of the Scales for Rating the Behavioral Characteristics of Superior Students

Abstract

Teacher nomination is often used as one criterion of a multidimensional approach towards identifying students with high abilities. Multiple criteria can be useful to identify students for gifted programs who may be overlooked using traditional methods. The teacher rating scales discussed in this study have been extensively used in the United States and have been translated into twelve other languages for use in identification of talented students in other countries. The purpose of this study was to develop teacher-rating scales for schools in the German speaking part of Switzerland. Therefore, the Scales for Rating the Behavioral Characteristics of Superior Students revised (SRBCSS-R) were translated from English into German and data were collected from certified teachers in public schools in Switzerland. Factor analysis confirmed the original four-factor structure from the American SRBCSS-R with a comparative fit index (CFI) of .89 and a root mean square residual of .07. Alpha reliability coefficients ranged between a = .86 and a = .96, providing support for the internal consistency of the instrument. Use of these scales is recommended as one criterion for identifying students with high abilities in Swiss schools and the evaluation of its appropriateness for other German speaking schools is encouraged. As more schools implement the Schoolwide Enrichment Model, the use of the SRBCSS-R will become more widespread.