What is the SSIS (Social Skills Improvement System Rating Scales)?

When a child's everyday social give-and-take is hard to see clearly, a structured rating scale can help the people who know them best put it into words.

In short

The Social Skills Improvement System Rating Scales (SSIS) is a well-established, questionnaire-style tool that gathers structured ratings from parents, teachers and — for older children — the child themselves, to build a picture of a child's social skills, problem behaviours and, in the classroom version, academic competence. It is used with children and young people roughly aged 3 to 18 years. It is not a diagnosis — it is one carefully designed lens that helps clinicians and educators understand where a child is thriving socially and where a little support might help.

What the SSIS assesses

The SSIS looks at social development across several everyday threads woven together. On the social skills side it considers areas such as communication, cooperation, assertion (speaking up and joining in), responsibility, empathy, engagement with others and self-control. Alongside this it rates problem behaviours — for example externalising behaviours, bullying, hyperactivity or inattention, and internalising patterns such as withdrawal or anxiety. The teacher form also captures a child's academic competence, recognising how closely social and classroom learning are linked.

A key strength is that it draws on more than one viewpoint: a parent sees a child at home, a teacher sees them in a group, and an older child can share their own experience. Bringing these together helps reduce the blind spots any single observer might have. Because skills are rated by frequency and importance, the results can point not only to areas of difficulty but also to clear strengths and to specific skills worth building — which connects naturally to the wider SSIS intervention materials. It is a screening and planning tool, not a verdict.

When a review helps

Consider a developmental review if you or your child's teacher notice persistent difficulty with making or keeping friends, sharing and turn-taking, reading others' feelings, managing frustration, or joining group play in a way that seems out of step with same-age peers. A structured tool like the SSIS may form one part of that wider look — always interpreted by a qualified professional alongside observation and the full picture of the child.

The Pinnacle way

This is general information, not a diagnosis — a clinical AbilityScore® and any diagnosis are formed only at a Pinnacle Blooms Network centre, under qualified clinician care, never from an app or form. Our team may use structured tools such as the SSIS alongside play-based observation, then build an individualised plan that can draw on behaviour therapy and social-skills support as needed.

Trusted sources

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association on social communication and assessment; the American Academy of Pediatrics and HealthyChildren on social-emotional development; CDC guidance on social milestones in childhood.

Next step — If you would like to understand your child's social strengths and where support might help, book a developmental review to map the whole picture and start any helpful support early.