Better measures lead to better evidence for decision-making in education.

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Families and Communities Pathways to and Through Postsecondary Student Learning Student Well-Being Teacher and Leader Development See all topics

Recent Updates:

NEW COLLECTION | MAY 2026

Collection: College Readiness and Success

EdInstruments collections are specialist-curated shortlists with guidance to help researchers and school improvement teams measure well, and measure in similar ways across settings. The College Readiness and Success Collection includes student surveys that document key aspects of the transition to postsecondary education.

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Toolkit Update | December 2025

rppl and the Annenberg Institute at Brown University logos layered on top of the toolkit model for 2025

Toolkit: Assessing ELA and Math Curriculum Shifts

The EdInstruments toolkit from RPPL helps school and district leaders collect data in critical areas of school improvement. Our Assessing Curriculum Shifts toolkit, including tools for ELA, Math, and subject-agnostic use, is now available.

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Popular Instruments

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See our most accessed surveys, assessments, and observation protocols

Sense of Belonging (Strayhorn)

Expert Notes

Strengths:
Captures multidimensional feelings of acceptance, mattering, and connection. Widely used in higher education equity and persistence research. Sensitive to institutional climate and peer/faculty relationships.

Cautions:
This is not a standardized instrument with fixed psychometrics; it’s closer to a theory-driven item bank or construct operationalization.

Topics: Pathways to and Through Postsecondary

Tags: Belonging, College readiness

A family of items grounded in Strayhorn's theoretical model laid out in his 2012 book College Students' Sense of Belonging.

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Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE)

Expert Notes

Strengths:
Nationally benchmarked survey widely used across community colleges. Strong psychometric foundation and established administration protocols.

Cautions:
Cross-institution comparisons may be affected by sampling differences. Survey fatigue can reduce response rates and data quality. Emphasizes engagement processes over learning outcomes.

Topics: Pathways to and Through Postsecondary

Tags: College readiness

The Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) is a national survey designed to measure the quality of undergraduate education in community colleges through the lens of student engagement. Rather than relying on inputs like selectivity or resources, CCSSE defines “quality” in terms of…

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Shift and Persist

Expert Notes

Strengths:
Brief items capturing adaptive responses to stress across academic contexts. Predictive validity for resilience-related health and academic outcomes in prior studies

Cautions:
Original validation focused more on health than academic populations. May oversimplify complex, context-dependent coping processes.

Topics: Pathways to and Through Postsecondary

Tags: College readiness

The Shift-and-Persist instrument was developed by Edith Chen to operationalize adaptive coping strategies among individuals facing adversity. The questionnaire consists of two subscales—shift (cognitive reappraisal and secondary control coping) and persist (purpose in life, optimism, and future…

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Survey of Entering Student Engagement (SENSE)

Expert Notes

Strengths:
Updated survey includes basic needs and access to support services.

Cautions:
Less applicable for four-year universities or advanced students.

Topics: Pathways to and Through Postsecondary

Tags: College readiness, Student engagement

The Survey of Entering Student Engagement (SENSE) is a student survey designed to help community and technical colleges understand students’ experiences during the earliest weeks of college. Developed by the Center for Community College Student Engagement (CCCSE) at The University of Texas at…

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Better measures lead to better evidence for decision-making in education.

Browse the EdInstruments Library

Recent Updates:

Collection: College Readiness and Success

Toolkit: Assessing ELA and Math Curriculum Shifts

Popular Instruments

Sense of Belonging (Strayhorn)

Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE)

Shift and Persist

Survey of Entering Student Engagement (SENSE)