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SEL Assessment in Action

The SEL Assessment in Action series is an ongoing effort to collect stories from educators who are using measures of SEL competencies. These vignettes are the product of written testimonies and qualitative interviews, conducted by the guide team, of educators who are using SEL competence assessments in practice.

Over time, this series will represent an increasing variety of contexts and uses of assessment to help illustrate for other practitioners how assessments can be used to improve the social and emotional skills of students.

Nyack Public Schools Use Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Survey to Move Our Equity Agenda Forward

Nyack Public Schools Use Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Survey to Move Our Equity Agenda Forward

Inspire SEL Assessment in Action

By: James Montesano, Nyack Public Schools, with Sara Stoutland, Independent Consultant   The Nyack Public Schools have been working to close achievement gaps for years. We are a racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse district, located about 30 miles north of New York City. As a community, we are proud of our diversity, and we are also deeply troubled by persistent racial and socioeconomic achievement gaps. We have disproportionate outcomes by race/ethnicity and socio-economic status in AP classes, suspensions, and special education identification.   In the past, we addressed these gaps by establishing targeted programs aimed at students who were not performing up to their potential— students of color and those from low-income backgrounds. Through these efforts, we saw some improvement in graduation […]

SEL Learning Through a Continuous Improvement Cycle

SEL Learning Through a Continuous Improvement Cycle

Inspire SEL Assessment in Action

By: Stan Masters, Coordinator of Instructional Data Services, Lenawee ISD, Adrian, MI   How could a continuous improvement process for social-emotional learning (SEL) increase measurable educational outcomes for students?  That was the question asked by the Lenawee Cradle to Career Partnership when it began utilizing the CASEL Framework with schools throughout Lenawee County, Michigan.   Working with the superintendents and local community partners, the partnership utilized resources from CASEL and Panorama Education, to implement a Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle, a scientific method used when engaged in action-oriented learning.   New work targeted to student SEL started at a small scale:  one school with students from three grades.  The school had seen an increase in inappropriate student behaviors and believed that more direct […]

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

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

Inspire SEL Assessment in Action

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

Austin’s Experience Using Multiple Measures of SEL

Inspire SEL Assessment in Action

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

How Student SEL Competence Assessment Can Improve Teaching and Learning

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 […]

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Stories about how people are using assessment in practice

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