Instruments
ACT
The ACT is a standardized college admission exam. It measures high school students’ readiness for college and career success by focusing on key content areas such as English, math, reading, and science (with the optional writing section). Multiple-choice questions are used in the English, math, reading, and science sections, and scores are converted into a composite score between 1 and 36.
ACT also provides score interpretations based on its College and Career Readiness Standards, which can provide secondary schools with information to improve instruction. Furthermore, ACT scores can be compared against College Readiness Benchmarks to determine whether students meet the minimum requirements for college success.
Year developed: 1959.
Category: Academic Knowledge and Skills
Sub-Category: College Readiness
Grades: 11th Grade, 12th Grade
ACT Engage
ACT’s Engage assessments measure motivational, skill, social engagement, and self-regulatory constructs related to academic performance in college.
Category: Academic Knowledge and Skills
Sub-Category: College Readiness
Grades: 6th Grade, 7th Grade, 8th Grade, 9th Grade, 10th Grade, 11th Grade, 12th Grade, Post secondary
Adult Adolescent Parenting Inventory (AAPI-2.1)
The Adult Adolescent Parenting Inventory (AAPI-2.1) is a 40-item self-reporting inventory that measures parental behaviors and is commonly used to assess the risk of child abuse and neglect. The AAPI-2.1 provides five subscales: expectations of children, parental empathy towards children's needs, use of corporal punishment, parent-child family roles, and children's power and independence. The instrument is offered in English, Spanish, Creole, and Arabic.
Category: Home and Community
Sub-Category: Parenting
CampusReady
CampusReady is an instrument that examines schools’ strengths and weaknesses in preparing students for college. Originally known as the CollegeCareerReady School Diagnostic when it was first introduced in 2009, CampusReady utilizes David Conley’s Four Keys to College and Career Readiness, which comprise cognitive strategies, content knowledge, academic behaviors, and contextual skills and awareness. CampusReady target respondents are students in grades 6-12, teachers, counselors, and administrators.
CampusReady generates four comprehensive reports: the Participant Information Report, which gathers data on participants; the Aspirations Report, which focuses on students’ future plans; the Four Keys to College and Career Readiness Report, which evaluates college readiness across the four dimensions of David Conley’s model; and the Targeted Recommendations Report, which provides customized recommendations for the school or district that utilized CampusReady. These reports serve as valuable resources for schools and districts seeking to improve their college readiness strategies by fostering students’ knowledge, skills, and behaviors. Additionally, schools gain access to a database of effective interventions targeting college readiness.
Year developed: 2013 in its current version, 2009 as CollegeCareerReady School Diagnostic.
Category: Academic Knowledge and Skills
Sub-Category: College Readiness
Grades: 6th Grade, 7th Grade, 8th Grade, 9th Grade, 10th Grade, 11th Grade, 12th Grade
CARE-Index
The CARE-Index is an observation instrument that measures mother-child interaction and is designed for children ages birth to 2 years. The instrument, which requires a short videotaped play interaction, provides sensitivity, control and unresponsiveness subscales for mothers and cooperativeness, compulsivity, difficultness, and passivity subscales for children.
Category: Home and Community
Sub-Category: Parenting
Early Assessment Program (EAP) English and Math Assessments
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. If they are deemed unprepared for college, they can enroll in remedial courses in 12th grade and participate in the Early Start preparation program in the summer before enrolling in CSU or participating community colleges. The EAP assessments are administered as part of the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) tests in the spring semester of 11th grade.
Year developed: 2004.
Category: Academic Knowledge and Skills
Sub-Category: College Readiness
Grades: 11th Grade
Emotional Availability Scales
The Emotional Availability Scales (EA Scales) measures the quality of parent-child or adult-child interactions. Emotional availability refers to “the adult’s ‘receptive presence’ to the child’s emotional signals” (Biringen and Easterbrooks, 2012). Created by Dr. Zeynep Biringen, Ph.D., in 1987, the instrument is currently in its 4th edition. The EA Scales consist of both adult and child subscales and can be completed in approximately 20 minutes.
Category: Home and Community
Sub-Category: Parenting
Healthy Families Parenting Inventory (HFPI)
The Healthy Families Parenting Inventory (HFPI) is a self-reporting instrument that measures nine parenting domains: social support, problem-solving, depression, personal care, mobilizing resources, role satisfaction, parent/child interaction, home environment, and parenting efficacy. The instrument, which contains 63 items, is often used for assessing home visitation early childhood programs.
Category: Home and Community
Sub-Category: Parenting
Keys to Interactive Parenting Scale (KIPS)
The Keys to Interactive Parenting Scale (KIPS) is an observation-based instrument that assesses parent-child interaction during play. The instrument has been rated “A-Reliability and Validity Demonstrated” by California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse and recommended by Parents As Teachers, Healthy Families America, SafeCare, and WAVE Trust & Department for Education, United Kingdom. The observation portion of KIPS, which helps measure 12 key parenting behaviors, can be completed in 15 minutes, while scoring takes approximately 20 minutes.
Category: Home and Community
Sub-Category: Parenting
Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI) 3rd edition
The Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI) measures college students’ learning and study strategies. It can be used for screening to identify students at risk of poor academic achievement and for diagnostics to examine strengths and weaknesses and provide focused remediation.
Now in its third edition, LASSI includes 60 items mapping onto ten scales (Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient in parentheses for every scale): Anxiety (.87), Attitude (.76), Concentration (.85), Information Processing (.81), Motivation (.77), Selecting Main Ideas (.86), Self Testing (.80), Test Strategies (.77), Time Management (.80), and Using Academic Resources (.76).
Year developed: LASSI 1st edition: 1987, LASSI 2nd edition: 2002; LASSI 3rd edition: 2016
Category: Academic Knowledge and Skills
Sub-Category: College Readiness
Grades: Post secondary
Parent Education Profile (PEP)
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.
Category: Home and Community
Sub-Category: Parenting
Parent Reading Belief Inventory (PRBI)
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.
Category: Home and Community
Sub-Category: Parenting
Parent Success Indicator (PSI)
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.
Category: Home and Community
Sub-Category: Parenting
Parent-Child Relationship Inventory (PCRI)
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.
Category: Home and Community
Sub-Category: Parenting
Parent-Infant Relational Assessment Tool (PIRAT)
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.
Category: Home and Community
Sub-Category: Parenting
Parenting Interactions with Children: Checklist of Observations Linked to Outcomes
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.
Category: Home and Community
Sub-Category: Parenting
Perceptions, Expectations, Emotions, and Knowledge about College (PEEK)
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.
Category: Academic Knowledge and Skills
Sub-Category: College Readiness
Grades: 12th Grade, Post secondary
Texas Success Initiative Assessment 2.0 (TSIA2)
The Texas Success Initiative Assessment 2.0 (TSIA2) was introduced in 2021, replacing the previous version utilized since 2013. As per the Texas State Legislature mandate, all students entering Texas public higher education institutions must undergo TSIA2 or qualify for one of its exemptions. The TSIA2 evaluates students' readiness for college-level coursework by testing them in English Language Arts and Reading (ELAR) and Mathematics.
In ELAR, TSIA2 focuses on two key areas: reading and writing. The reading portion assesses comprehension and analysis of literary, informational, and argumentative texts, including paired passages. Meanwhile, the writing portion evaluates skills in revising and editing sentences, paragraphs, and early drafts of essays.
In mathematics, TSIA2 focuses on four key areas: quantitative reasoning, algebraic reasoning, geometric and spatial reasoning, and probabilistic and statistical reasoning.
Students taking the TSIA2 begin by completing College Readiness Classification (CRC) tests in ELAR and mathematics, comprising multiple-choice questions. If students fail to meet the college readiness benchmarks on these CRC tests, they proceed with the multiple-choice diagnostic tests in ELAR and Mathematics. These diagnostic tests present an additional chance for the students to demonstrate their preparedness for college-level coursework. They also highlight students' strengths and weaknesses in specific content areas, thus facilitating their placement into suitable courses and enabling them to receive the necessary remedial support and interventions.
Year developed: 2021 (TSIA2 replaced TSIA introduced in 2013).
Category: Academic Knowledge and Skills
Sub-Category: College Readiness
Grades: Post secondary
The Home Observation Measurement of the Environment-Short Form (HOME-SF)
The Home Observation Measurement of the Environment-Short Form (HOME-SF) is an observation instrument commonly used to measure the home environment of children ages birth to 15 years old. The HOME-SF is an abridged version of the HOME inventory, which is twice the length, and contains mother-reported items. The HOME-SF provides cognitive stimulation and emotional support subscores along with the total score.
Category: Home and Community
Sub-Category: Parenting
University of Idaho Survey of Parenting Practice (UISPP)
The University of Idaho Survey of Parenting Practice (UISPP) is a self-reporting instrument that parents can complete to measure the effect of a parenting education program. The UISPP was created for the purpose of the "Parents as Teachers" program and assesses the knowledge, confidence, skills, and behaviors of parents. The instrument is available in both English and Spanish.
Category: Home and Community
Sub-Category: Parenting