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Two For One: Using Our Academic Assessment Practices to Measure SEL

By: Rose Pennington, Institute of Positive Psychology and Education Having spent last year out of the classroom and devoted to my PhD studies, I am loving being back with students (albeit three days a week) because I can apply much of what I have been studying to my practice, to see how it looks like ‘in real life.’ Given that my thesis is examining the ways in which teachers can promote both academic potential and social and emotional skills, I have been considering whether the strategies touted for academic assessment would also serve to measure the social and emotional competencies I want my students to demonstrate. At my school there is a targeted focus this year on formative […]

Austin’s Experience Using Multiple Measures of SEL

By Lindsay Lamb, Program Evaluation Coordinator, Austin Independent School District Measures of students’ SEL competence can be used alongside other data to support decisions around program implementation. Currently, the Austin Independent School District’s (AISD) Department of Research and Evaluation (DRE) uses multiple measures to assess effective SEL implementation, including an SEL Implementation Survey; AISD Student Climate Survey; Teaching Empowering, Leading, Learning (TELL) AISD Staff Climate Survey; Family Survey; PK-6th grade students’ personal development skills (report card ratings); and academic performance, attendance, and discipline data. Elementary school teachers’ assessment of their students’ SEL skills Every 9 weeks, teachers assess the frequency with which their PK-6th grade students engage in SEL-related skills using the personal development skills report card ratings. These ratings are […]

How Student SEL Competence Assessment Can Improve Teaching and Learning

March 27, 2019 Inspire SEL Assessment in Action

By: Clark McKown, xSEL Labs A recent survey reported by Ed Week Market Brief indicates that 90% of instructional leaders are considering or have committed to investing in social and emotional learning (SEL). Much of that investment will go towards purchasing SEL programs, such as those listed in CASEL’s program guide. We know from quantitative summaries of many, many program evaluations that, when implemented well, these programs can lead to improved academic, social, and emotional outcomes (Durlak, Weissberg, Dymnicki, Taylor, & Schellinger, 2011). The program evaluations summarized by Durlak and colleagues carefully measured student outcomes to understand program impact. Outside of the context of this kind of study, however, educators rarely have an opportunity to use high-quality student assessment in […]

Connecting the Dots of SEL Assessment: Methodologies that Matter for Students, Teachers, and Policy

February 27, 2019 Inspire SEL Assessment in Action

By: Christina Cipriano, Ph.D. You can’t have evidence-based practice without evidence. You can’t have evidence without assessments. But, what are the “right” assessments for SEL? Assessments that matter for students. Accessible assessments match students’ needs, and their results direct student pathways to engagement and learning. Assessments that matter for practice. Good assessments capture learning in a meaningful way and promote the building of an evidence base of best practice for instruction. Effective assessments provide real-time information for educators to teach from — scores that support student growth and inform teacher instruction. Assessments that matter for policy. Formative, summative, and standardized assessment structures play a key role in federal education and accountability mandates, and scores contribute to funding distributions at the […]

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 […]

Inspire

Two For One: Using Our Academic Assessment Practices to Measure SEL

Austin’s Experience Using Multiple Measures of SEL

How Student SEL Competence Assessment Can Improve Teaching and Learning

Connecting the Dots of SEL Assessment: Methodologies that Matter for Students, Teachers, and Policy

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

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