The Instruments

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.

The Comprehensive School Climate Inventory (CSCI) is a nationally-recognized and empircally validated school climate survey that provides an in-depth profile of your school community’s particular strengths, as well as areas for improvement. With the CSCI, you can quickly and accurately assess student, parent/ guardian, and school personnel perceptions in order to get the data that you need to make informed decisions for lasting improvement. The CSCI measures thirteen essential dimensions of a healthy school climate in five broad categories: Safety, Teaching and Learning, Interpersonal Relationships, Social Media, Institutional Environment, as well as two distinct dimensions for personnel only.

The Coping Flexibility Scale is a 10-item assessment containing two subscales that measure evaluation coping and adapative coping. Each subscale contains 5 items that are rated on a 4-point Likert scale.

The CCTT is designed to assess students’ reasoning ability. The assessment spans five subscales: Induction, Deduction, Observation, Credibility, and Assumptions.

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.

The Creative Self-Efficacy Scale (CSE) is a self-report measure of creative self-efficacy in middle and high school aged students. The 3 items contained within the CSE are answered on a five-point Likert scale.

The CAT instrument is a unique tool designed to assess and promote the improvement of critical thinking and real-world problem solving skills. Most of the questions require short answer essay responses, and a detailed scoring guide helps ensure good scoring reliability. The CAT instrument is scored by the institution's own faculty using the detailed scoring guide. During the scoring process faculty are able to see their students' weaknesses and understand areas that need improvement.

Culturally Ambitious Teaching Practices in Mathematics (CATP) measures practices that support the development of a culturally relevant classroom environment.

The Culturally Responsive Instruction Observation Protocol (CRIOP) is a comprehensive framework and evaluation tool that operationalizes culturally responsive instruction. Indicators of culturally responsive instruction are rated on a scale of 0 (never) to 4 (consistently); and each indicators includes detailed examples of what constitutes responsive and non-responsive practice. The CRIOP is intended for use as a classroom observation guide for coaches, principals, instructional coaches, etc. to support classroom teachers in the development of more culturally responsive instruction.

The Culturally Responsive Teaching Self-Efficacy Scale (CRTSE) is a survey that assess teachers’ beliefs that engaging in culturally responsive teaching practices will have positive classroom and student outcomes. The scale is based on Bandura's (1977) research on outcome expectancies (a person's estimate that a given behavior will lead to certain outcomes), and Siwatu's (2006) research on Culturally Responsive Teaching Competencies. Survey respondents rate from 0 to 100 the probability that a certain culturally responsive teaching behavior will lead to positive classroom and student outcomes. The scale has primarily been used to support the development of preservice teachers.

The Culturally Responsive Teaching Survey measures instructional practices associated with culturally responsive teaching, including conveying respect and connectedness, building on students' personal experiences, and encouraging confidence as learners.

The Delaware School Climate Survey-Student Version is a brief survey that measures student feelings about school climate across several subdomains (which include Social and Emotional Competencies, Classroom Management Techniques, Bullying, and Engagement). Parent/Guardian and teacher versions of the Delaware School Climate Survey are also available for implementation.

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.

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.

The ISSAQ Intake Survey assesses the noncognitive skills of students transitioning into college (e.g., through college access programs, advising, first-year experience). The survey addresses twelve factors that represent the behavioral, motivational, emotional, and social domains of college success: organization, quality of focus, engagement, goal commitment, persistence, effort of focus, calmness, coping strategies, self-efficacy, help seeking, sense of belonging, and institutional commitment.

Diagnostic Science Assessments for Middle School Teachers are written tests that measure mathematics knowledge in three content domains (Physical Science; Life Science; Earth/Space Science) and across four types of knowledge (Declarative Knowledge; Scientific Inquiry and Procedures; Schematic Knowledge; Pedagogical Content Knowledge). Researchers, professional development providers, and course instructors can administer the assessments as pre- and post-tests before and after workshops, institutes, or courses to determine growth in teachers' content knowledge.

Diagnostic Mathematics Assessments for Middle School Teachers are written tests that measure mathematics knowledge in four content domains (Number/Computation, Geometry/Measurement, Probability/Statistics, Algebraic Ideas) and across four types of knowledge (Memorized Knowledge; Conceptual Understanding; Problem Solving/ Reasoning; and Pedagogical Content Knowledge).

Diagnostic Mathematics Assessments for Elementary School Teachers are written tests that measure mathematics knowledge in four content domains (Whole Number/Computation, Rational Number/Computation, Geometry/Measurement, Probability/Statistics/Algebra) and across four types of knowledge (Memorized Knowledge; Conceptual Understanding; Problem Solving/ Reasoning; and Pedagogical Content Knowledge).

The Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) 8th Edition is an assessment that can be used for benchmark screening and monitoring growth of students in grades K-8.

Dispositional Hope Scale [22] assesses a global trait based hope score for individuals above 15 years old. The scale is in 4-point Likert-type scale ranging from Definitely False to Definitely True. There are twelve items in the scale distributed as follows: pathways subscale (4 items), agentic thinking subscale (4 items) and four negative statements as fillers that aren’t related to hope.

The Dyadic Parent-Child Interaction Coding System (DPICS) is a system that assesses parent-child interactions. The instrument can be used to measure ongoing progress as well as pre- and post-treatment outcomes. The DPICS can be completed in under an hour without video equipment.

California’s Early Assessment Program (EAP) consists of three parts: college readiness testing in 11th grade, academic preparation in 12th grade, and teacher professional development. EAP’s standardized math and English assessments measure high school juniors’ readiness for college-level work at California State University (CSU) campuses. Based on these assessments, EAP classifies students into four levels: 1) standard not met, 2) standard nearly met, 3) standard met, and 4) standard exceeded. Students taking EAP assessments receive information about their college readiness.

The Early Childhood Classroom Observation Measure (ECCOM) is a classroom observation instrument that rates the nature and quality of academic instruction and the overall learning environment. The instrument is based on social-constructivist learning theory, such that in high-scoring classrooms teachers are identified as actively guiding and supporting children's learning efforts and the development of their social skills.

Using the frameworks of cultural responsiveness and classroom management, the Early Childhood Ecology Scale (ECES) is developed to be an observation and reflective tool to examine teacher candidates' notions of classroom ecology. It includes five sub-domains to measure teacher's interaction with diverse students. These subdomains are sociocognitive, sociocultural, sociolinguistic, socioemotional, and sociophysical.

The Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS) is an assessment of classroom quality measuring environmental provisions and teacher-child interactions affecting the developmental needs of preschool- and kindergarten-aged children. The third edition of the assessment, ECERS-3, includes 35 items focusing on the following six domains: space and furnishings, personal care routines, language and literacy, learning activities, interaction, and program structure. ECERS may be used to evaluate inclusive and culturally diverse educational settings. 

The ECLS-K:2011 is a longitudinal study, with the same children followed from kindergarten through the fifth grade. The direct cognitive assessments were designed to measure children's knowledge and skills, as well as track their academic growth in different subject areas. Among these subjects included reading.

The Early Language & Literacy Classroom Observation Toolkit (ELLCO) is a classroom observation measure that assesses the quality of the classroom environment and teacher practices across five key elements: classroom structure, curriculum, the language environment, books and book reading opportunities, and print and early writing support. The measure is primarily designed for administrators and teachers of preschool and early elementary classrooms to use for professional development and program improvement.

The Early Reading Assessment (ERA) is an assessment for children in grades K-2 that helps educators identify students with delays in reading abilities. Teachers, special educators, speech pathologists, and school psychologists can administer the test. The ERA, which takes 10-15 minutes to complete, contains the written word vocabulary, rapid orthographic naming, and silent orthographic efficiency core subtests that combine to create the Early Reading Index.

The Efficacious Self-Presentation Scale (ESS) is a 36 item questionnaire that measures 6 different dimensions: Social self-confidence; Self-image regulation; Bodily self-confidence; Social sensitivity; Social openness; and Social desirability. All responses are expressed on a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree).

ERICA is a 16 item scale to assess emotion regulation in middle childhood and adolescence. The ERICA was developed in 2009 and yields 3 factors, Emotional Control, Emotional Self-awareness, and Situational Responsiveness.