Details about Group Participation Scale

• Welcome to the Outcome Assessment forum by John Grohol, 9/18/96
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    • Objective Behavioral Measurement..would like to know more. by Toni Ann Spunar MSN, RNCS, 7/27/96
      
      

This scale is called the Group Participation and Progress Review Scale or GPPRS ("Jeepers"). The scale will measure the degree to which participants are able to become involved in the group process. The earliest measure for group participants is to record whether they attend the group. If they choose not to attend, they receive a score of 4 on the scale. The scale has ten possible points of measurement. Scores from 1 to 3 are used for clients who are unable to attend groups due to severe mental or physical disability. Beginning with category 4, clients are deemed appropriate for group attendance and participation. As stated above, a score of 4 is given to a client who could benefit, but chooses not to attend the group.

Category 5 is the next point on the scale. This score is given to the participant who is able to attend only a portion of the group. This participant comes significantly late or leaves early without a valid excuse. If the participant is asked to leave the group for any reason, he/she is evaluated using categories 6-10 on the scale.

Category 6 indicates a participant who stays for the entire group session but behaves inappropriately. I can discuss this important category with you in detail if you would like.

Category 7 is used for participants who stay for the entire group but do not initiate conversation unless they are spoken to. Furthermore, they do not initiate conversation beyond the initial response to a verbal prompt.

Category 8 indicates a participant who stays for the entire group and initiates appropriate conversation. There are further details about this category.

There are two more categories but you get the idea. There are two additional categories besides 9 and 10. Category 0 (zero) is used for participants who are excused from the group or are not appropriate for a particular group type. NG (no group) is the final category and is used when a scheduled group does not occur for any reason.

As stated earlier, this scale only measures group or program involvement. It is not intended to measure subjective learning or goal achievement other than the goal of getting higher scores due to increased program involvement. It is a reliable indicator of the degree to which a participant is becoming oriented to reality or is becoming socially interconnected with his/her peers.

In a short period of time the scale will produce a numerical ranking of participants that will reveal the level of social functioning. Scores from all group sessions can be averaged together to get daily average scores. You have the option of revealing the scoring to the participants or not. In behavioral modification applications, revealing the scale to the participants and encouraging higher scores can be extremely beneficial.

There are other exciting aspects of this scale. Fore example, you can combine individual scores of group participants to get a group average score. This gives you a record of each group session and the level at which the group functioned.

Additionally, there are important behavioral modification aspects to this scale. Incentives can be used to encourage group participation.

GPPRS can be easily modified to fit the needs of differing populations. Please respond with your impressions, questions, or concerns.

Thank you for your interest, Toni.

• Group Participation Scale by JoAnn, 10/3/96
  • GPPRS Scale by C. F. Nelson, 11/2/96
• The Jeepers Scale... skewing the results? by Jim Burke, Orientation & Mobility Specialist, 11/6/96
  • To Jim concerning GPPRS by C. F. Nelson, 11/7/96
• Where can I get a copy? by Kellyw@goodnet.com, 4/10/97