The Instruments

The purpose of the Authoritative School Climate Survey (ASCS) is to assess school climate and bullying in school settings and help guide school improvement efforts. The ASCS is derived from the School Climate Bullying Survey (SCBS) and contains many of the same items and scales. The survey was renamed because new research has sharpened its focus on authoritative school climate theory. Schools in Virginia have used the survey under the name Virginia Secondary School Climate Survey.

Note: The overview provided for this instrument includes content that may have been sourced from the instrument publisher's or author’s website (or other site providing information about the instrument). This information is presented for educational and informational purposes only. If you have any questions about the content or its permitted uses, please contact annenberg@brown.edu.

The EQ-i™ is a pioneering self-report tool that assesses emotionally and socially intelligent behavior, offering an estimate of emotional-social intelligence. As the first measure of its kind to be published by a psychological test publisher, peer-reviewed in the Buros Mental Measurement Yearbook, and the most widely used since its debut in 1996, the EQ-i™ stands as a leading measure in its field. The tool, detailed in the 1997 Bar-On EQ-i™ Technical Manual and extensively referenced in the literature, consists of 133 items using a 5-point response scale. Designed for individuals aged 17 and older, the EQ-i™ is easily readable at a sixth-grade level and takes about 30 minutes to complete.

Note: The overview provided for this instrument includes content that may have been sourced from the instrument publisher's or author’s website (or other site providing information about the instrument). This information is presented for educational and informational purposes only. If you have any questions about the content or its permitted uses, please contact annenberg@brown.edu.

The complete version of APERS must be completed by certified raters external to schools. The assessment includes a review of student records, interviews with school staff and parents, observations, and the completion of an electronic scoring tool. A shorter APERS self-assessment companion tool can be completed by teachers and used in combination with the full APERS evaluation by a certified rater.

Note: The overview provided for this instrument includes content that may have been sourced from the instrument publisher's or author’s website (or other site providing information about the instrument). This information is presented for educational and informational purposes only. If you have any questions about the content or its permitted uses, please contact annenberg@brown.edu.

The Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development (BSID) measures the development of infants and young children (aged 16 days-42 months). Conducted by trained examiners, BSID includes several developmental play tasks to assess cognitive, language, motor, social-emotional, and adaptive behavior development. BSID’s most recent fourth version was created in 2019.

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.

The Behavior Intervention Monitoring Assessment System (BIMAS-2) offers an online web-based data management system with dynamic analysis, graphing and reporting options. This allows its users to dynamically manipulate data in real time to assist in evidence-based decision-making within a comprehensive behavior health care model of service delivery. The BIMAS-2 is a brief, repeatable multi-informant measure that can be used for Universal Screening – identify students who might be at risk or in need of further assessment – and Progress Monitoring – monitor the effectiveness of system wide interventions. The data generated by this process, increases accountability across all parties involved, promotes implementation fidelity and facilitates the collaboration of school personnel and parents.

Note: The overview provided for this instrument includes content that may have been sourced from the instrument publisher's or author’s website (or other site providing information about the instrument). This information is presented for educational and informational purposes only. If you have any questions about the content or its permitted uses, please contact annenberg@brown.edu.

The Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) is a questionnaire used to assess children’s everyday behaviors related to executive functioning—skills like starting tasks, staying organized, managing emotions, and completing work. While it focuses on “executive function,” the BRIEF is best understood as a measure of behavioral regulation that reflects how well children apply these skills in real-life settings such as classrooms or at home.

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.

Note: The overview provided for this instrument includes content that may have been sourced from the instrument publisher's or author’s website (or other site providing information about the instrument). This information is presented for educational and informational purposes only. If you have any questions about the content or its permitted uses, please contact annenberg@brown.edu.

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. Subscore(s): Interpersonal strength, Involvement with family, Intrapersonal strength, School functioning, Affective strength, Career strength.

Note: The overview provided for this instrument includes content that may have been sourced from the instrument publisher's or author’s website (or other site providing information about the instrument). This information is presented for educational and informational purposes only. If you have any questions about the content or its permitted uses, please contact annenberg@brown.edu.

The Behaviors, Related Attitudes, and Intentions Toward Science (BRAINS) Survey is a student survey that measures how young people think about and engage with science. It was created to offer a clearer way to study students’ interest in science and their motivation to take part in scientific activities. The survey is based on the Theory of Reasoned Action and Planned Behavior, which connects beliefs and attitudes to actions.

The Belonging Uncertainty Scale is an assessment of an individual's worry that they do not fit into a certain group or setting. The 3 question items that constitute this scale are scored on a seven-point Likert scale. Subscore(s): Belonging

Note: The overview provided for this instrument includes content that may have been sourced from the instrument publisher's or author’s website (or other site providing information about the instrument). This information is presented for educational and informational purposes only. If you have any questions about the content or its permitted uses, please contact annenberg@brown.edu.

The Berkeley Puppet Interview (BPI) uses puppets to conduct structured and clinical interviews that assess children's perceptions of themselves, their families, and their school environments. Subscore(s): There are six subscores: Academic competence, Achievement motivation, Social competence, Peer acceptance, Depression-anxiety, Aggression-hostility.

Note: The overview provided for this instrument includes content that may have been sourced from the instrument publisher's or author’s website (or other site providing information about the instrument). This information is presented for educational and informational purposes only. If you have any questions about the content or its permitted uses, please contact annenberg@brown.edu.

A brief 15-item version of the California School Climate Scale (Brief-CSCS) is presented to fill a need for a measure that could be used for periodic monitoring of school personnel's general perception of the climate of their school campus.

Note: The overview provided for this instrument includes content that may have been sourced from the instrument publisher's or author’s website (or other site providing information about the instrument). This information is presented for educational and informational purposes only. If you have any questions about the content or its permitted uses, please contact annenberg@brown.edu.

The Brief Multidimensional Student’s Life Satisfaction Scale (BMSLSS; Huebner, Drane, & Valois, 2000; Seligson, Huebner, & Valois, 2003) is a five-item measure that provides a general index of student life satisfaction across five life domains (friends, family, self, school, and living environment) for students within the ages of 8-18. A five-point scale developed by Bickman and colleagues (2007) is commonly used (1 = very dissatisfied to 5 = very satisfied). General life satisfaction is calculated by summing the five individual domains (Huebner, Seligson, Valois, & Suldo, 2006). The five-item version has acceptable internal consistency when used with high school students (a = .75, Funk, Huebner, Valois, 2006; a = 83, Ng, Huebner, Maydeu-Olivares, & Hills, 2017; a = .81, Zullig, Valois, Huebner, Oeltmann, & Drane, 2001). A two-week stability reliability coefficient was acceptable for high school students, r = .91 (Funk, Huebner, & Valois, 2006).

Note: The overview provided for this instrument includes content that may have been sourced from the instrument publisher's or author’s website (or other site providing information about the instrument). This information is presented for educational and informational purposes only. If you have any questions about the content or its permitted uses, please contact annenberg@brown.edu.

The Brief Self-Control Scale (BSCS) is a measure of individual differences in self-control.

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Bryant's (1982) Index of Empathy for Children and Adolescents, a 22-item questionnaire measure of dispositional affective empathy.

Note: The overview provided for this instrument includes content that may have been sourced from the instrument publisher's or author’s website (or other site providing information about the instrument). This information is presented for educational and informational purposes only. If you have any questions about the content or its permitted uses, please contact annenberg@brown.edu.

The CCTDI (P. A. Facione & N. C. Facione, 1992) was developed, validated, and used to assess students‘ disposition toward critical thinking (CT). It consisted of 75 statements, divided into seven subscales: Truth-seeking, Open-mindedness, Analyticity, Systematicity, Self-confidence, Inquisitiveness, and Maturity. Responses were made on a 6-point Likert-type scale. The CCTDI reports a total score, which is the sum of its seven subscales, ranging from 70 to 420. A total score more than 280 indicates a positive overall disposition toward CT. The development and validation process is described in P. A. Facione and N. C. Facione (1992).

Note: The overview provided for this instrument includes content that may have been sourced from the instrument publisher's or author’s website (or other site providing information about the instrument). This information is presented for educational and informational purposes only. If you have any questions about the content or its permitted uses, please contact annenberg@brown.edu.

The CCTST (Facione, 1990; P. A. Facione & N. C. Facione, 1994) was developed, validated, and used for assessing students‘ CT skills. It is a standardised, 34-item multiple choice test, non discipline-specific that targets core critical thinking skills. Each item on the CCTST is assigned to one of three subscales: Analysis, Evaluation, and Inference.

Note: The overview provided for this instrument includes content that may have been sourced from the instrument publisher's or author’s website (or other site providing information about the instrument). This information is presented for educational and informational purposes only. If you have any questions about the content or its permitted uses, please contact annenberg@brown.edu.

Students also completed the CHKS core module, a confidential survey of school climate and safety, student wellness, and youth resiliency. The module is administered schoolwide to students and provides insight into health risks and behaviors, school connectedness, school climate, protective factors, and school violence experiences. Students in Grades 9-12 completed the high school form and students in Grades 7-8 completed the nearly identical middle school form. The CHKS module is part of a comprehensive data-driven decision-making process on improving school climate and student learning environment for overall school improvements (see https://calschls.org).

Note: The overview provided for this instrument includes content that may have been sourced from the instrument publisher's or author’s website (or other site providing information about the instrument). This information is presented for educational and informational purposes only. If you have any questions about the content or its permitted uses, please contact annenberg@brown.edu.

The California School Climate and Safety Survey-Short Form is a self-student reported questionnaire created to assist the state of California in monitoring the creation of safe schools as required by the 2001 federal law, No Child Left Behind. It measures overall school climate and personal-safety related experiences.

Note: The overview provided for this instrument includes content that may have been sourced from the instrument publisher's or author’s website (or other site providing information about the instrument). This information is presented for educational and informational purposes only. If you have any questions about the content or its permitted uses, please contact annenberg@brown.edu.

The SEHM, developed by researchers at UC Santa Barbara led by Dr. Michael Furlong, assesses youth: empathy, self-efficacy, self-awareness, persistence, emotional self-regulation, behavioral self-control, gratitude, zest, and optimism.

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The Career Adapt-Abilities Scale (CAAS) consists of four scales, each with six items. The four scales measure concern, control, curiosity, and confidence as psychosocial resources for managing occupational transitions, developmental tasks, and work traumas. A short form also exists. 

Note: The overview provided for this instrument includes content that may have been sourced from the instrument publisher's or author’s website (or other site providing information about the instrument). This information is presented for educational and informational purposes only. If you have any questions about the content or its permitted uses, please contact annenberg@brown.edu.

The Casper Assessment for Social Emotional Skills (CASES) rubric addresses the social emotional skills gifted students should be working on throughout their K–12 education. The CASES rubric is used as a tool for measuring where a student is on a spectrum of social-emotional steps, and for looking at progression and in order to set goals and measure progress across multiple dates.

Note: The overview provided for this instrument includes content that may have been sourced from the instrument publisher's or author’s website (or other site providing information about the instrument). This information is presented for educational and informational purposes only. If you have any questions about the content or its permitted uses, please contact annenberg@brown.edu.

The 18-item Classroom Climate Scale measures three components of students' or teachers' perceptions of their classroom climate: student-student relationships, student-teacher relationships, and awareness/reporting. Respondents are asked to indicate the extent to which they agree or disagree with a series of declarative statements.

Note: The overview provided for this instrument includes content that may have been sourced from the instrument publisher's or author’s website (or other site providing information about the instrument). This information is presented for educational and informational purposes only. If you have any questions about the content or its permitted uses, please contact annenberg@brown.edu.

The Comprehensive School Climate Inventory (CSCI) is a nationally-recognized school climate survey that provides an in-depth profile of your school community’s particular strengths, as well as areas for improvement.

Note: The overview provided for this instrument includes content that may have been sourced from the instrument publisher's or author’s website (or other site providing information about the instrument). This information is presented for educational and informational purposes only. If you have any questions about the content or its permitted uses, please contact annenberg@brown.edu.

The Child and Adolescent Wellness Scale (CAWS) is a self-report instrument that assesses the social and emotional competencies of children and adolescents. It has been used primarily for research purposes. Subscore(s): Adaptability, Conscientiousness, Connectedness, Emotional self-regulation, Empathy, Initiative, Mindfulness, Optimism, Self-efficacy, Social competence

Note: The overview provided for this instrument includes content that may have been sourced from the instrument publisher's or author’s website (or other site providing information about the instrument). This information is presented for educational and informational purposes only. If you have any questions about the content or its permitted uses, please contact annenberg@brown.edu.

The Child Caregiver Interaction Scale (CCIS), Revised Edition is an observation-based instrument created by Dr. Barbara Carl, Ph.D that assesses caregiver-child interaction. The 14 items are based upon the Developmentally Appropriate Practice position statements of the National Association for the Education of Young Children’s (NAEYC) and the National Health and Safety Performance Standards. The CCIS, which measures emotional, cognitive/physical, and social behaviors, is appropriate for children from birth to 5 years.

The Child-Parent Relationship Scale (CPRS) is an instrument developed at University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education and Human Development that assesses parents’ views of their relationship with their child. Created by Dr. Robert Pianta, Ph.D., the instrument consists of 30 items. There is also a short form with 15 items available.

Assesses problem behaviors (acting‐out, shy/anxious behavior, learning problems), and social competencies (frustration tolerance, peer social skills, assertive social skills, task orientation) in the school context.

Note: The overview provided for this instrument includes content that may have been sourced from the instrument publisher's or author’s website (or other site providing information about the instrument). This information is presented for educational and informational purposes only. If you have any questions about the content or its permitted uses, please contact annenberg@brown.edu.

The Social Achievement Goals survey is a self-report measure of social skills and competencies. Subscore(s): Development, Demonstration-approach, Demonstration-avoidance

Note: The overview provided for this instrument includes content that may have been sourced from the instrument publisher's or author’s website (or other site providing information about the instrument). This information is presented for educational and informational purposes only. If you have any questions about the content or its permitted uses, please contact annenberg@brown.edu.