Instruments
Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessments (ASEBA)
The Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessments (ASEBA) is a comprehensive assessment system designed to assess competencies, strengths, adaptive functioning, and behavioral, emotional and social problems in individuals 1.5 to 90 years of age. The ASEBA is used widely used in the following settings: mental health services, schools, medical settings, child and family services, multicultural assessments, public health agencies and additionally in similar settings.
Category: Student Well-Being
Sub-Category: 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
Assessment of Equity in Beliefs and Practices of Teaching Mathematics to African American Students
This assessment is designed to assess the mindsets of mathematics teachers at the middle and high school levels in teaching mathematics to African American students. The purpose of the survey is to provide an indication of (a) teachers’ mindsets that may be productive or unproductive in supporting the mathematical learning of African American students; (b) teachers’ awareness of and attribution for success and challenges in African American students’ learning of mathematics; and (c) teachers’ feelings of self-efficacy and/or support in enacting equitable instruction.
Category: Schooling
Sub-Category: Teaching
Grades: 6th Grade, 7th Grade, 8th Grade, 9th Grade, 10th Grade, 11th Grade, 12th Grade
Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale – Second Edition (BERS-2)
The BERS-2 measures personal strengths and competencies in children 5-18. The BERS-2 is a multi-modal assessment system that measures the child's behavior from three perspectives: the child (Youth Rating Scale), parent (Parent Rating Scale), and teacher or other professional (Teacher Rating Scale). The BERS-2 measures six aspects of a child's strength: interpersonal strength, involvement with family, intrapersonal strength, school functioning, affective strength, and career strength.
Category: Student Well-Being
Sub-Category: Social-Emotional Competence
Grades: 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
Communities that Care Youth Survey
This survey uses the risk and protective factor model to assess youth problem behaviors including violence, delinquency, school dropout, and substance abuse. It also includes youth feelings of family relationships and community climate.
Category: Student Well-Being
Sub-Category: Social-Emotional Competence
Grades: 6th Grade, 7th Grade, 8th Grade, 9th Grade, 10th Grade, 11th Grade, 12th Grade
Community and Youth Collaborative Institute (CAYCI) School Experiences Survey
This body of surveys include forms for teacher/staff and parent/caregiver responses in addition to student responses. Each survey can include a number of scales which can be included or excluded according to the goals of the survey administrator. Some of these subscales include academic motivation, experiences in schools, substance use, and peer relationships.
Category: Student Well-Being
Sub-Category: Social-Emotional Competence
Grades: 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
Cornell Critical Thinking Test
The CCTT is designed to assess students’ reasoning ability. The assessment spans five subscales: Induction, Deduction, Observation, Credibility, and Assumptions.
Category: Student Well-Being
Sub-Category: Social-Emotional Competence
Grades: 4th Grade, 5th Grade, 6th Grade, 7th Grade, 8th Grade, 9th Grade, 10th Grade, 11th Grade, 12th Grade, Post secondary
CoVitality Social Emotional Health Surveys (SEHS)
The CoVitality SEHS, partially funded by IES at the US Department of Education, aligns with national frameworks of social-emotional competencies, measuring student strengths. There are three forms for use in corresponding grade levels: primary, secondary, and higher education.
Category: Student Well-Being
Sub-Category: Social-Emotional Competence
Grades: 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
Developmental Asset Profile (DAP)
This survey is inteded to assess the strengths, supports, and social-emotional factors essential for youth success. It is built on the Developmental Assets Framework, which describes 40 external and internal assets necessary for success and thriving in the future. The DAP shows youth perspectives in many parts of their lives: personal, peers, family, school, and community.
Category: Student Well-Being
Sub-Category: Social-Emotional Competence
Grades: 4th Grade, 5th Grade, 6th Grade, 7th Grade, 8th Grade, 9th Grade, 10th Grade, 11th Grade, 12th Grade
Devereux Student Strengths Assessment (DESSA)
The Devereux Student Strengths Assessment (DESSA) is a behavior rating scale that assess eight social-emotional competencies in children in kindergarten through eighth grade. Additionally, a new high school assessment is also available.DESSA is completed by parents/guardians, teachers, or staff members at schools and similar institutions such as after-school, social service and mental health programs. The assessment can be administered via computer or paper and pencil and is available in both English and Spanish.
Category: Student Well-Being
Sub-Category: Social-Emotional Competence
Grades: 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
Framework for Teaching (FfT)
Framework for Teaching is a classroom observation instrument that can be used for measuring and evaluating the instructional quality of all teachers (from pre-service to experienced) across K-12. The measure can be flexibly used by classroom teachers for professional learning, school leaders for evaluation, researchers for measurement, and system leaders as a common language for organizing the profession.
It should be noted that the majority of research on the Framework for Teaching focused on general education teachers. Studies exploring FfT with special education teachers (see “Psychometric references” below) suggest that they tend to be rated low on FfT’s instruction domain and that FfT does not reflect core practices known to support students with disabilities.
Category: Schooling
Sub-Category: Teaching
Grades: 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
Mathematics Teaching Efficacy Beliefs Instrument (MTEBI)
The Mathematics Teaching Efficacy Beliefs Instrument (MTEBI) is a domain-specific modification of the Science Teaching Efficacy Belief Instrument (STEBI). The MTEBI measures pre-service teachers’ beliefs regarding mathematical instruction, students' ability to learn mathematics and teachers’ sense of efficacy in teaching mathematics.
Category: Schooling
Sub-Category: Teaching
Grades: 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
Mission Skills Assessment (MSA)
The Mission Skills Assessment (MSA) is an online assessment that targets 6 noncognitive constructs: creativity, curiosity, ethics, resilience, teamwork, and time management. Each construct is measured by means of a student self-report scale, a student alternative scale (e.g., situational judgment test), and a teacher report scale. Use of the MSA provides schools with the opportunity to examine and monitor development of noncognitive skills in their students from Grade 6 to Grade 8. Three methods of measurement were incorporated into the MSA for each construct: traditional Likert self-report items, Likert teacher-report items, and an alternate type of assessment (e.g., situational judgments).
Category: Student Well-Being
Sub-Category: Social-Emotional Competence
Grades: 6th Grade, 7th Grade, 8th Grade
Multicultural Staff Development Teacher Survey
The Multicultural Staff Development Teacher Survey analyzes the teachers' perceptions of multicultural education's benefits to their students and who and what is necessary for the students to receive those perceived benefits; the teachers' interest and motivation for attending a multicultural education workshop given a particular format; and the self-perceived awareness of the basic elements surrounding multicultural education.
Category: Schooling
Sub-Category: Teaching
Grades: 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
Nondominant Cultural Capital Scales
The Nondominant Cultural Capital Scales operationalize Yosso's (2005) community cultural wealth (CCW) framework. CCW refers to the assets that students of color bring to schooling. The four scales include aspirational capital (the ability to maintain hopes and dreams for the future), familial capital (connections to and knowledge of family and kinship networks), navigational capital (the ability to navigate through schooling institutions that were not designed with communities of color in mind), and resistant capital (the knowledge of and motivation to transform oppressive structures).
Category: Student Well-Being
Sub-Category: Social-Emotional Competence
Grades: 6th Grade, 7th Grade, 8th Grade, 9th Grade, 10th Grade, 11th Grade, 12th Grade, Post secondary
Positive Youth Development Sustainability Scale (PYDSS)
This scale is meant to be used as a self-reporting tool to assess the impacts of positive youth development programs. These programs are meant to provide opportunities for youth to increase their skills, abilities, and interests in positive activities. This scale was created for both domestic and international use. This scale was based on the PYDI (Arnold et al) but adjusted with items removed and a construct to measure happiness added.
Category: Student Well-Being
Sub-Category: Social-Emotional Competence
Grades: 3rd Grade, 4th Grade, 5th Grade, 6th Grade, 7th Grade, 8th Grade, 9th Grade, 10th Grade, 11th Grade, 12th Grade
Preservice Teacher Feedback Survey
The Preservice Teacher Feedback Survey measures beliefs about classroom feedback practices and confidence in giving feedback to students. The measure is designed for use by preservice teachers to assess the extent to which their beliefs and confidence in giving feedback align with research on quality feedback. The measure has been used as a pre- and post-test to assess the effects of initial teacher education courses on assessment.
Category: Schooling
Sub-Category: Teaching
Grades: 6th Grade, 7th Grade, 8th Grade, 9th Grade, 10th Grade, 11th Grade, 12th Grade
Science Teaching Efficacy Belief Instrument (STEBI)
The Science Teaching Efficacy Belief Instrument (STEBI) can be used to measure science teachers’ self-efficacy and outcome expectancy across all levels of teaching. The STEBI-A is the version recommended for use with in-service teachers; the STEBI-B is the version recommended for use with pre-service teachers.
Category: Schooling
Sub-Category: Teaching
Grades: 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
Self Determination Inventory (SDI)
The SDI is a set of measures to assess a student's self determination. It includes questions about choice making, goal setting, and decision making. The Inventory includes a self-report measure for people aged 13-22 with or without disabilities, as well as a parent or teacher report for an outside perspective. These two assessments can be combined for a full view of a student's self-determination. The assessment uses a continuous scale between "Agree" and "Disagree" on their online platform. For a non-visual option, those using a screen reader can use higher numbers to show higher agreement. There are 17 questions in the measure.
Category: Student Well-Being
Sub-Category: Social-Emotional Competence
Grades: 8th Grade, 9th Grade, 10th Grade, 11th Grade, 12th Grade, Post secondary
Social Skills Improvement System, Social-Emotional Learning Edition (SSIS SEL)
The Social Skills Improvement System-Social Emotional Learning Edition (SSIS SEL) is sold through Pearson and measures a variety of social and emotional competencies using both norm and criterion referencing. There are both digital and paper versions which can be completed by students, parents, or teachers. There is also a brief version of the form.
Category: Student Well-Being
Sub-Category: 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
The Bridge-Positive Youth Development (Bridge-PYD)
The Bridge-Positive Youth Development measure is an open-source, 40-item Likert survey initially validated using responses from 7-18-year-old children in a community-based after school program in Denver, CO. It uses a resilience-based framework incorporating the 5 Cs: Competence, Confidence, Connection, Character, and Caring/Compassion.
Category: Student Well-Being
Sub-Category: Social-Emotional Competence
Grades: 2nd Grade, 3rd Grade, 4th Grade, 5th Grade, 6th Grade, 7th Grade, 8th Grade, 9th Grade, 10th Grade, 11th Grade
The Flourishing Children Project (FCP)
The Flourishing Children Project, funded by the John Templeton Foundation, has constructed 20 scales based on a nationally representative sample to measure different dimensions of personal flourishing. The scales are open access, and many offer versions for both adolescents (ages 12-18) and parents. The scales fall into 5 categories: Personal Flourishing, Flourishing in School and Work, Flourishing in Relationships, Relationship Skills, and Environmental Stewardship.
Category: Student Well-Being
Sub-Category: Social-Emotional Competence
Grades: 7th Grade, 8th Grade, 9th Grade, 10th Grade, 11th Grade, 12th Grade
The Motivation and Engagement Scale Junior (MES-J)
Created along the Motivation and Engagement Wheel, the Motivation and Engagement Scale consists of eleven motivation and engagement subscales congruent with the eleven first-order factors in the Wheel (i.e., self-efficacy, valuing, mastery orientation, planning, task management, persistence, anxiety, failure avoidance, uncertain control, self-handicapping, and disengagement). The eleven subscales can be separated into four major groups representing the four higher-order motivation and engagement factors (i.e., adaptive cognition, adaptive behaviour, impeding cognition, and maladaptive behaviour). Each of the eleven MES subscales comprises four items—hence, the MES is a 44-item instrument. To respond to the MES, a 5-point Likert-type scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree), is provided. An 11 item short form is also available.
Category: Student Well-Being
Sub-Category: Social-Emotional Competence
Grades: 5th Grade, 6th Grade, 7th Grade, 8th Grade
The Social-Emotional Assets and Resilience Scales (SEARS)
The Social-Emotional Assets and Resilience Scales (SEARS) were developed at the University of Oregon and are sold by Psychological Assessment Resources (PAR). They measure responsibility, self regulation, social competence, and empathy, and contain both long and short forms for K-12 students, parents, and teachers. The forms are often used for progress monitoring and program evaluations. PAR sells the forms in English and Spanish, and they have also been translated into Chinese and Portuguese.
Category: Student Well-Being
Sub-Category: Social-Emotional Competence
Grades: 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
VIA Youth Survey
The Values in Action Youth Survey (VIA Youth Survey) is an open-access Likert survey for children ages 10-17 measuring 24 character strengths within the broad categories Courage, Humanity, Justice, Temperance, Transcendence, and Wisdom. It has both a 96- and 198- item version, and it has been adapted into many other languages and shorter forms. Values in Action also makes adult character strength surveys and other assessments for younger children such as the Character Strengths Inventory for Children (CSI-C) and the Character Strengths Inventory for Early Childhood (CSI-EC) for children ages 7-12 and 3-6, respectively.
Category: Student Well-Being
Sub-Category: Social-Emotional Competence
Grades: 5th Grade, 6th Grade, 7th Grade, 8th Grade, 9th Grade, 10th Grade, 11th Grade, 12th Grade
Washoe County School District Social and Emotional Competency Assessments (WCSD-SECAs)
The Washoe County School District Social and Emotional Competency Assessments (WCSD-SECAs) are free, open-source instruments that measure the self-reported social and emotional competencies of students in grades 5-12. The WCSD-SECA instruments were developed through a collaboration among WCSD, the Collaborative for Academic and Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL), and the University of Illinois at Chicago through an Institute of Education Sciences Research-Practitioner Partnership grant.
Category: Student Well-Being
Sub-Category: Social-Emotional Competence
Grades: 5th Grade, 6th Grade, 7th Grade, 8th Grade, 9th Grade, 10th Grade, 11th Grade, 12th Grade