SEL Assessments
Once SELENA is deployed in schools, it is critical to continuously assess how the curriculum is impacting instruction and students’ social emotional capacities. SEL assessments, both formative and summative, serve this purpose.
Formative assessments are assessments for learning. They are conducted frequently and provide information to guide and improve instruction. By contrast, summative assessments are assessments of learning. They are higher-level examinations of the effectiveness of school-wide or district-wide SEL programs, and can be conducted pre and post intervention to determine whether the program made significant improvements in students’ SEL capacities (https://measuringsel.casel.org/about/).
Our SELENA curriculum specifically focuses on developing 5 core topics – self awareness, self regulation, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making. In order to formatively and summatively assess the impact of SELENA in your school, we recommend several reliable and validated SEL assessments that account for these 5 core topics in their measures.
SSIS SEL Rating Forms
The Social Skills Improvement System Rating Forms (SSIS SEL Rating Forms) is a norm-referenced self-report rating scale that assesses our 5 core topics. There are student, teacher, and parent versions which are completed by the students themselves, teachers, and parents, respectively. For all versions, the form takes 10-15 minutes to complete. Base cost is $1.85 per student.
The student version is self report, and can be used in 3rd-12th graders. This self report format is ideal for assessing self awareness and social awareness, core topics that are difficult to glean from external behavior. However, the self report format is less ideal for assessing the other 3 core topics of self management, relationship skills, and responsible decision making. These core topics are assessed more objectively by a third party.
The parent and teacher versions, where parents/teachers evaluate the SEL of their children/students, can be used in PreK-12th graders. This third party observation format is ideal for assessing self management, relationship skills, and responsible decision making, but less so for self awareness and social awareness.
Further information on reliability and validity:
Parent Version:
Teacher Version:
Student Version:
The SSIS SEL Rating Forms can be purchased here: https://www.pearsonassessments.com/store/usassessments/en/Store/Professional-Assessments/Behavior/SSIS-Social-Emotional-Learning-Edition/p/100001940.html
WCSD Student Social and Emotional Competency Assessment
The Washoe County School District Student Social and Emotional Competency Assessments (WCSD-SECA) is a self-report measure that can be completed by students in 5th through 12th grade. It assesses 8 student SEL competencies, including SELENA’s 5 core topics. It is free and publicly available to use.
The short form of the WCSD-SECA takes 5-10 minutes to complete. The long form takes 10-15 minutes to complete. Because it is self-report, this assessment is ideal for examining self awareness and social awareness, but less so for self management, relationship skills, and responsible decision making.
Both the short and long forms of the WCSD-SECA have been used primarily as formative assessments for learning. However, there is potential to use it as a summative assessment as well.
Further information on reliability and validity:
Please Click on The Links Below to Access to the Assessments Forms:
Devereux Student Strengths Assessment (DESSA)
The Devereux Student Strengths Assessment assesses 8 SEL competencies, including SELENA’s 5 core topics. Applicable to K-8th graders, the DESSA is completed by parents, guardians, teachers, or other third parties who can observe the student’s behavior. Cost varies depending on the usage.
The DESSA takes 10 minutes to complete. Its third party observation format makes it ideal for assessing self management, relationship skills, and responsible decision making, but less so for social awareness and self awareness. The DESSA has been used as both a formative and summative assessment tool.
Further information and reliability and Validity:
https://measuringsel.casel.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/DESSA-User-Manual.pdf
Panorama Social Emotional Learning- Student Version
Panorama Social Emotional Learning is a self report measure that assesses 9 SEL competencies, including 3 of SELENA’s core topics – social awareness, self management, and relationship skills. It can be completed by students in 3rd-12th grade. It is free and publicly available to use.
Panorama takes 10-15 minutes to complete. Its self report format makes it ideal for examining social awareness, but less so for self management and relationship skills.
Panorama has demonstrated reliability and validity as a formative assessment measure. Its reliability and validity as a summative measure is unconfirmed.
Further information on reliability and validity: https://panorama-www.s3.amazonaws.com/files/sel/SEL-Validity-Report.pdf
Access the measure here: https://panorama-www.s3.amazonaws.com/files/sel/SEL-User-Guide.pdf