The Instruments

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.

The Missouri Higher Education Civics Examination is required for all undergraduates enrolled in a Missouri two-year or four-year college on or after July 1, 2019. It consists of 50 questions and assesses students' knowledge on the U.S. Constitution, U.S. Bill of Rights, governmental institutions, historical manifestations of federalism, and the history of constitutional interpretation and amendments.

The MSLQ assesses learning strategies and motivation in college students. The motivation scales assess (1) value (intrinsic and extrinsic goal orientation, task value), (2) expectancy (control beliefs about learning, self-efficacy); and (3) affect (test anxiety). The learning strategies section is comprised of nine scales which can be distinguished as cognitive, metacognitive, and resource management strategies. The cognitive strategies scales include (a) rehearsal, (b) elaboration, (c) organization, and (d) critical thinking.

The MSCEIT tests the respondent's ability to perceive, use, understand, and regulate emotions. Using every-day life scenarios, the MSCEIT assesses how well an individual can react to and solve emotional problems as well as solve tasks. It was designed for use in corporate, educational, research, and therapeutic settings. Rather than a subjective assessment of one's own emotional intelligence, the MSCEIT uses a performance-based approach. There are many subscores reported in addition to total emotional intelligence (EIQ). These include two area scores for experiential EIQ and strategic EIQ.

The Multicultural Efficacy Scale (MES) measures teachers' multicultural efficacy and the multicultural teacher education dimensions of intercultural experiences, minority group knowledge, attitudes about diversity, and knowledge of teaching skills in multicultural settings.

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.

The Multicultural Teaching Competency Scale (MTCS) captures three dimensions of multicultural teaching competency: awareness, knowledge, and skills. Multicultural teaching awareness is defined as three dynamic and continuous processes reflecting teachers’ awareness of (a) self and others as cultural beings, (b) their attitudes and biases, and (c) the need to create culturally sensitive learning environments for all students.

The Multicultural Teaching Observation Instrument (MTOI) is a tool used to assess the types of multicultural teaching that takes places in the classroom setting. The MTOI is comprised of 18 items grouped into 3 categories, Teacher Support of Students, Classroom Equity, and Integration of Students' Culture.

The Teacher Support category measures a teachers' support of students as individuals and their culture. The Classroom equity category measures whether teachers are fair or equitable toward all students and the extent to which teachers try to reduce prejudice in the classroom. The integration of students' culture category examines examines the extent to which resources, materials, and practices that reflect multicultural teaching are used in the classroom. This category measures how well multicultural concepts are integrated into the classroom and the curriculum.

The Multidimensional Self-Concept Sale (MSCS) is an assessment of self concept intended for use with students in grades 5-12. The MSCS is comprised of 6 subscales, (Social, Competence, Affect, Academic, Family, Physical) each containing 25 items, for a total of 150 items within the assessment.

Student-reported ethnic identity, defined as that part of the student's self-concept derived from his or her knowledge of their membership in a social group, together with the value and significance attached to that membership. 

The My Class Inventory-Short form, adapted from the longer form version of the My Class Inventory contains 25 yes or no questions written at a low reading level suitable for children. The MCI-SF asks respondents about their perceptions of five different dimensions of their actual classroom environment: Satisfaction, Friction, Competitiveness, Difficulty (with classroom work) and Cohesiveness.

The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) is a school-based longitudinal study of a nationally representative sample of adolescents in grades 7-12 in the United States in 1994-95 that includes several items related to students' sense of belonging (e.g., “I feel like I am part of this school” and “I feel close to people at this school”).

The seven NGSE items Chen and Gully (1997) had found to be distinct from the SGSE scale and self-esteem. Because the authors wanted to ensure that the content domain of GSE would be well captured by the NGSE scale, they created seven additional NGSE items, intending to eliminate redundancies later. Consistent with procedures employed by Chen and Gully, when wording the new items authors carefully referred to Eden’s GSE conceptualization, which is consistent with definitions provided by other researchers (Gardner & Pierce, 1998; Judge et al., 1997; Judge, Erez, et al.,1998).

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 transfor

Developed by Hung et al. (2010) and validated on a sample of Taiwanese college students, the Online Learning Readiness Scale (OLRS) explores five dimensions of readiness to study online: self-directed learning, learner control, motivation for learning, computer/Internet self-efficacy, and online communication self-efficacy. 

Year developed: 2010.

The Panorama Social-Emotional Learning Student Surveys are comprehensive surveys designed to measure social-emotional competencies of students and how they are supported in classrooms and schools.

The Parent Behavior Checklist (PBC) is a self-reporting instrument designed for parents with children 1-4 years years old. The instrument, which only takes 10-20 minutes to complete, provides expectations, nurturing, and discipline subscales.

The Parent-Child Relationship Inventory (PCRI) is an instrument for parents to assess their relationship with their children. The instrument, which contains 78 items, has been standardized on over 1,100 parents in the United States. The PCRI can be completed in 15 to 20 minutes.

The Parent Education Profile (PEP) is a 75-item observation instrument that measures 15 subdomains. The instrument, which is designed for children from birth to 8 years old, measures parents' behavior related to children's literacy skills. The PEP is available in both English and Spanish.

The Parent-Infant Relational Assessment Tool (PIRAT) is an observation instrument that rates parent-child interactions for children ages birth to 2 years. The PIRAT measures optimal parental behavior and can be used as a risk assessment by health professionals. The instrument was developed as part of the Parent-Infant Project at the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families.

The Parent Reading Belief Inventory (PRBI) is a self-reporting instrument that assess parents' beliefs about the frequency, quality, and importance of their child's literacy activities. The 42-item instrument provides seven subscales: positive affect, verbal participation, resources, teaching efficacy, knowledge base, environmental input, and reading instruction.

The Parent Success Indicator (PSI) is a self-reporting instrument that assess parental behavior, specifically related to communication, use of time, teaching, frustration, satisfaction, and information needs. The PSI is designed for parents with children 10-14 years of age and offers a child survey as well. English and Spanish versions of the instrument are available.

The Parenting Interactions with Children: Checklist of Observations Linked to Outcomes (PICCOLO™) is an observation instrument that covers four parenting behavior domains: affection, responsiveness, encouragement, and teaching. The instrument is designed for children from 10 months to 4 years old and is available in both English and Spanish.

The Parenting Sense of Competence Scale (PSOC) is a self-reporting instrument that measures and assesses parent self-efficacy. The instrument, designed for parents with children birth-17 years of age, was originally developed by Gibaud-Wallston and Wandersman (1978) with skill knowledge and value competence subscales but has been translated and revised by Johnston and Marsh (1989) for use with older children.

The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC, mathematics assessments are assessments based on the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The PARCC mathematics assessments include a variety of tasks that measure students' learning of the mathematical content and practice standards for their grade level or course of study. As of 2020, 2 states, Washington D.C., the Department of Defense Education Activity, and the Bureau of Indian Education were using PARCC.

PALS is used to investigate the relationship between a student's learning environment and their affect, motivation, and behavior. It consists of both a student scale and a teacher scale. The student scale investigates personal achievement goal orientations, perceptions of teacher goals, perceptions of the goal structures in the classroom, achievement related beliefs, and perceptions of parents and home life. The teacher scale investigates perceptions of goal structures in the school, goal-related approaches to instruction, and personal teaching efficacy. 

The PPVT-5 is an individually administered measure of receptive vocabulary based on words in Standard American English sold by Pearson.

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.

The PPA scale is an individually administered assessment of phonological and print awareness. The examiner reads items from an easel stimulus book, and the examinee provides nonverbal responses.

The Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS) is a tool that focuses on fundamental literacy skills. The assessment offers instruments for PreK-3, with a Spanish version available as well. PALS is the state-provided screening assessment for Virginia's Early Intervention Reading Initiative (EIRI). PALS Plus can be used for grades 4-8.