Social Skill Assessment of Inner City Asian, African, and European American Students

Abstract: A multi-method, multidimensional approach, consisting of teacher ratings, self-ratings, sociometric ratings, direct observations, and semistructured interview, was used to assess the social skills of fifth-grade Asian, African, and European American students. Inter- and intragroup differences were found on several of the measures. Teachers attributed characteristic internalizing and externalizing behaviors to Asian and African American students, respectively Teacher perceptions were only partially supported through direct observations and self-reports. European and Asian American students differed significantly on the sociometric ratings, and Asian American students engaged in proportionately more outergroup social communications. The findings are discussed in terms of the implications for viewing the social skills of culturally and racially different inner city students.