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SEL Assessment Must be Strengths-based, But What Does That Mean?

February 20, 2019 Inform

By Jeremy Taylor and Lindsay Read, CASEL It’s been about three months since the SEL Assessment Guide was released. Nearly 8,200 users from all 50 states and 131 countries have visited the Guide and hundreds have shared feedback with us. One of the many excellent questions we often receive is: “what does it mean that a measure must be “strengths-based” to appear in the Guide?” In this blog post, we attempt to provide an answer to that question, and also bring more clarity to the similarities and differences between the fields and practices of SEL and mental/behavioral health. What does strength-based competency assessment mean? SEL competencies are essential knowledge, skills, attitudes, and mindsets that individuals need to succeed in life. […]

Comparing and Aligning SEL Frameworks: Helpful New Approaches and Tools

February 13, 2019 Inform

By: Dale A. Blyth In previous blogs about the series of Framework Briefs created as part of Measuring SEL, I have written about the importance of SEL Frameworks to help unite what we do as well as ten criteria for selecting one, and the importance of using both equity and developmental lenses when considering which frameworks might work best for your SEL initiative. Today we release the new Comparative Series of Three SEL Framework Briefs that represent three very different efforts to look across frameworks and help you compare where they come from, how they are aligned or misaligned, and how states are using frameworks in building their K-12 SEL learning standards. They represent cutting edge approaches to understanding frameworks […]

Before we try to measure their skills, let’s assess the environment in which they are learning

February 6, 2019 Inspire

Rose Pennington is a classroom teacher, education consultant and PhD student at the Institute of Positive Psychology and Education at the Australian Catholic University. Contact: rose@penningtoneducation.com. Like many teachers, I focus the assessment in my classroom on formative as well as summative measurements of what my students can do. While I am interested in the knowledge they have gained following a five week mathematics program for example, I pay just as much, if not more attention to the knowledge my students bring with them to the classroom on the first day. By taking care to understand what I must build upon, I can ensure that my students develop in the most efficient manner possible. The same perspective applies to […]

Balancing and Aligning District and School Leader Approaches to SEL Assessment

January 30, 2019 Inspire SEL Assessment in Action

Eric Moore, Chief of Accountability, Research and Equity and Interim Chief of Academics Erin Rathke, Principal Justice Page Middle School Minneapolis Public Schools As a district level administrator and middle school principal, we wanted to jointly write this blog in an attempt to align theory with practice around SEL measurement. From our experiences in education, there is often a disconnect between the grandiose ideas and practices of district office staff and the day to day experience of building principals. In 2017, Minneapolis public schools became a member of the CASEL collaborating district initiative. Our goal as a district is for all seventy-two of our schools to begin integrating elements of social and emotional learning, including SEL measurement, into all […]

Socially and Emotionally Safe – and Hopeful!

January 23, 2019 Inform

By Tim Shriver, Co-Chair of the National Commission on Social, Emotional, and Academic Development and Chair of the CASEL Board More than thirty years ago when I was a teacher at a high school in New Haven, Connecticut, a student standing just a few feet from me during dismissal was shot. I went home that day with his blood on my clothes and the shocking immediacy and stark reality of a challenge on my mind. My colleagues and I, guided by the child development based systems reform work of Dr. James Comer and the social competence promotion work of Dr. Roger Weissberg and supported by our principal and superintendent, began shaping a strategy to put the needs of children—all their […]

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Blog

SEL Assessment Must be Strengths-based, But What Does That Mean?

Comparing and Aligning SEL Frameworks: Helpful New Approaches and Tools

Before we try to measure their skills, let’s assess the environment in which they are learning

Balancing and Aligning District and School Leader Approaches to SEL Assessment

Socially and Emotionally Safe – and Hopeful!

INFORM

INSPIRE

ENGAGE

CONNECT

Blog

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