Instruments
ACT Engage
ACT’s Engage assessments measure motivational, skill, social engagement, and self-regulatory constructs related to academic performance in college.
Category: Academic Knowledge and Skills
Sub-Category: College Readiness
Grades: 6th Grade, 7th Grade, 8th Grade, 9th Grade, 10th Grade, 11th Grade, 12th Grade, Post secondary
Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory
The Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory is a 133-item self-report inventory, in which items are responded to on a five-point Likert scale. Items are summed to reflect a total score as well as scoring in five dimensions (Intrapersonal intelligence, Interpersonal intelligence, Adaptability, Stress management, and General mood).
Category: Student Well-Being
Sub-Category: Mental Health, Social-Emotional Competence
Grades: 10th Grade, 11th Grade, 12th Grade, Post secondary
Beck Youth Inventories - Second Edition (BYI-2)
Five inventories each contain 20 questions about thoughts, feelings, and behaviors associated with emotional and social impairment in youth. Children and adolescents describe how frequently the statement has been true for them during the past two weeks, including today.
Depression Inventory: In line with the depression criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders Fourth Edition (DSM-IV), this inventory allows for early identification of symptoms of depression. It includes items related to a child's or adolescent’s negative thoughts about self, life and the future, feelings of sadness and guilt, and sleep disturbance.
Anxiety Inventory: Reflects children's and adolescents’ specific worries about school performance, the future, negative reactions of others, fears including loss of control, and physiological symptoms associated with anxiety.
Anger Inventory: Evaluates a child's or adolescent’s thoughts of being treated unfairly by others, feelings of anger and hatred.
Disruptive Behavior Inventory: Identifies thoughts and behaviors associated with conduct disorder and oppositional-defiant behavior.
Self-Concept Inventory: Taps cognitions of competence, potency, and positive self-worth.
Category: Student Well-Being
Sub-Category: Mental Health, Social-Emotional Competence
Grades: 2nd Grade, 3rd Grade, 4th Grade, 5th Grade, 6th Grade, 7th Grade, 8th Grade, 9th Grade, 10th Grade, 11th Grade, 12th Grade, Post secondary
Behavior Assessment System for Children, 3rd Edition (BASC-3)
The Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC), which is sold by Pearson, aims to measure adaptive behaviors, problem behaviors, and individual thoughts and feelings. It contains multiple evaluation forms: Teacher Rating Scales (TRS) and the Student Observation System (SOS) to be completed by a teacher; Parent Rating Scales (PRS), the Parenting Relationship Questionnaire (PRQ), and the Structured Developmental History (SDH) to be completed by a parent, and the Self-Report of Personality (SRP) to be completed by the student. Each form can be completed separately or in combination.
Category: Student Well-Being
Sub-Category: Mental Health, Social-Emotional Competence
Grades: Pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten, 1st Grade, 2nd Grade, 3rd Grade, 4th Grade, 5th Grade, 6th Grade, 7th Grade, 8th Grade, 9th Grade, 10th Grade, 11th Grade, 12th Grade, Post secondary
Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF)
The BRIEF was developed in 2000 and assesses a student's executive functioning in the home and school. It includes parent response forms and teacher response forms. Designed to assess the abilities of a broad range of children and adolescents, the BRIEF is useful when working with children who have learning disabilities and attention disorders, traumatic brain injuries, lead exposure, pervasive developmental disorders, depression, and other developmental, neurological, psychiatric, and medical conditions. The BRIEF has eight clinical scales (Inhibit, Shift, Emotional Control, Initiate, Working Memory, Plan/Organize, Organization of Materials, Monitor) and is helpful in indicating attention disorders. The BRIEF has been adapted into 60 languages and for use from age 2-90. Recently, the BRIEF2 was created for ages 5-18. The BRIEF2 is shorter, but has no additional clinical items, allowing for consistency of data collection between the BRIEF and BRIEF2, and results can be translated from the BRIEF to the BRIEF2 to take advantage of new normative data. The BRIEF2 also has increased sensitivity for detecting ADHD and ASD.
Category: Student Well-Being
Sub-Category: Mental Health, Social-Emotional Competence
Grades: < 3 Years, Pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten, 1st Grade, 2nd Grade, 3rd Grade, 4th Grade, 5th Grade, 6th Grade, 7th Grade, 8th Grade, 9th Grade, 10th Grade, 11th Grade, 12th Grade, Post secondary
Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI) 3rd edition
The Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI) measures college students’ learning and study strategies. It can be used for screening to identify students at risk of poor academic achievement and for diagnostics to examine strengths and weaknesses and provide focused remediation.
Now in its third edition, LASSI includes 60 items mapping onto ten scales (Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient in parentheses for every scale): Anxiety (.87), Attitude (.76), Concentration (.85), Information Processing (.81), Motivation (.77), Selecting Main Ideas (.86), Self Testing (.80), Test Strategies (.77), Time Management (.80), and Using Academic Resources (.76).
Year developed: LASSI 1st edition: 1987, LASSI 2nd edition: 2002; LASSI 3rd edition: 2016
Category: Academic Knowledge and Skills
Sub-Category: College Readiness
Grades: Post secondary
Perceptions, Expectations, Emotions, and Knowledge about College (PEEK)
Perceptions, Expectations, Emotions, and Knowledge about College (PEEK) is a diagnostic instrument focused on student ideas, attitudes, beliefs, and expectations of college. PEEK’s 30 items use a 5-point rating scale (from “not at all likely” to “extremely likely”) to assess students’ academic, personal, and social expectations. Such measurement could potentially assist students in forming more precise perceptions of their college surroundings and potentially prevent disengagement and dropout from college.
Year developed: 1995.
Category: Academic Knowledge and Skills
Sub-Category: College Readiness
Grades: 12th Grade, Post secondary
Texas Success Initiative Assessment 2.0 (TSIA2)
The Texas Success Initiative Assessment 2.0 (TSIA2) was introduced in 2021, replacing the previous version utilized since 2013. As per the Texas State Legislature mandate, all students entering Texas public higher education institutions must undergo TSIA2 or qualify for one of its exemptions. The TSIA2 evaluates students' readiness for college-level coursework by testing them in English Language Arts and Reading (ELAR) and Mathematics.
In ELAR, TSIA2 focuses on two key areas: reading and writing. The reading portion assesses comprehension and analysis of literary, informational, and argumentative texts, including paired passages. Meanwhile, the writing portion evaluates skills in revising and editing sentences, paragraphs, and early drafts of essays.
In mathematics, TSIA2 focuses on four key areas: quantitative reasoning, algebraic reasoning, geometric and spatial reasoning, and probabilistic and statistical reasoning.
Students taking the TSIA2 begin by completing College Readiness Classification (CRC) tests in ELAR and mathematics, comprising multiple-choice questions. If students fail to meet the college readiness benchmarks on these CRC tests, they proceed with the multiple-choice diagnostic tests in ELAR and Mathematics. These diagnostic tests present an additional chance for the students to demonstrate their preparedness for college-level coursework. They also highlight students' strengths and weaknesses in specific content areas, thus facilitating their placement into suitable courses and enabling them to receive the necessary remedial support and interventions.
Year developed: 2021 (TSIA2 replaced TSIA introduced in 2013).
Category: Academic Knowledge and Skills
Sub-Category: College Readiness
Grades: Post secondary