Academic Competence Evaluation Scales (ACES)

The Academic Competence Evaluation Scales (ACES) are questionnaires evaluating social, behavioral, and academic skills related to learning in school. Specifically, ACES measures academic skills in reading, language, mathematics, and critical thinking as well as academic enablers such as motivation, interpersonal skills, engagement, and study skills. 

ACES has three versions: ACES-Teacher Form (ACES-TF), ACES-Student Form (ACES-SF), and ACES-College Form (ACES-CF). ACES-TF is for grades K-12 and consists of 73 items using a 5-point Likert scale. ACES-SF is for grades 6-12 and consists of 68 items. The ACES-CF is for students enrolled in colleges or technical schools and consists of 66 items.

As of 2022, ACES-2 is in the process of development and validation, see more details here.

Content

Domains
Academic skills: reading and language, mathematics, and critical thinking,
Academic enablers: motivation, engagement, study skills, and interpersonal skills
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
Respondent
Student,
Teacher

Administration Information

Length
ACES-TF: 73 items, 12-15 minutes; ACES-SF: 68 items, 12-15 minutes; ACES-CF: 66 items, 12-15 minutes
Administration
Paper

Access and Use

Contact

ACES Academic Competence Evaluation Scales http://www.academiccompetence.com/contact/

Use in Research

Becker, S. P., Epstein, J. N., Burns, G. L., Mossing, K. W., Schmitt, A. P., Fershtman, C. E., ... & Tamm, L. (2022). Academic functioning in children with and without sluggish cognitive tempo. Journal of School Psychology, 95, 105-120. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2022.10.001 

Rasheed, D. S., Brown, J. L., Doyle, S. L., & Jennings, P. A. (2020). The effect of teacher–child race/ethnicity matching and classroom diversity on children's socioemotional and academic skills. Child Development, 91(3), e597-e618. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13275

Teti, D. M., Whitesell, C. J., Mogle, J. A., Crosby, B., Buxton, O. M., Bierman, K. L., & Almeida, D. M. (2022). Sleep Duration and Kindergarten Adjustment. Pediatrics, 150(2). https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2021-054362

Psychometrics

Scoring
Manual scoring
Psychometric References

DiPerna, J. C., & Elliott, S. N. (1999). Development and validation of the academic competence evaluation scales. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 17(3), 207-225. https://doi.org/10.1177/073428299901700302

Item Type
Likert

Psychometric Considerations

Psychometrics is the science of psychological assessment. A primary goal of EdInstruments is to provide information on crucial psychometric topics including Validity and Reliability – essential concepts of evaluation, which indicate how well an instrument measures a construct - as well as additional properties that are worthy of consideration when selecting an instrument of measurement.

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