Instruments
Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP)
The Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP) is an observational instrument that can be used to assess the degree to which mathematics or science instruction in grades K-12 is “reformed”. Trained observers rate teachers' instruction across three domains: Lesson Design and Implementation; Content; Classroom Culture. Possible scores range from 0 to 100 points, with higher scores reflecting a greater degree of use of reform-based instructional practices.
Category: Schooling
Sub-Category: Teaching
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
Science Discourse Instrument
The Science Discourse Instrument (SDI) is an observation tool and rubric used to evaluate the quality of discussions in science classrooms. There are six categories for observation in the SDI, which are considered essential to strong discourse in science classrooms, three of the categories focus on teachers and three focus on students. The categories for teachers are: asking open ended questions; pressing for explanation; and linking discussions. The categories for students are: explanation of ideas; co-constructing ideas with peers; and critiquing the reasoning of others.
Category: Schooling
Sub-Category: Teaching
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
Self Determination Inventory (SDI)
The SDI is a set of measures to assess a student's self determination. It includes questions about choice making, goal setting, and decision making. The Inventory includes a self-report measure for people aged 13-22 with or without disabilities, as well as a parent or teacher report for an outside perspective. These two assessments can be combined for a full view of a student's self-determination. The assessment uses a continuous scale between "Agree" and "Disagree" on their online platform. For a non-visual option, those using a screen reader can use higher numbers to show higher agreement. There are 17 questions in the measure.
Category: Student Well-Being
Sub-Category: Social-Emotional Competence
Grades: 8th Grade, 9th Grade, 10th Grade, 11th Grade, 12th Grade, Post secondary
Social Skills Improvement System, Social-Emotional Learning Edition (SSIS SEL)
The Social Skills Improvement System-Social Emotional Learning Edition (SSIS SEL) is sold through Pearson and measures a variety of social and emotional competencies using both norm and criterion referencing. There are both digital and paper versions which can be completed by students, parents, or teachers. There is also a brief version of the form.
Category: Student Well-Being
Sub-Category: Social-Emotional Competence
Grades: Pre-Kindergarten, 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
Survey of Teacher Practice (STeP)
STeP is a tool that allows instructors to be evaluated by their students across a set of categories identified as critical for effective classroom instruction. Two optional open-ended questions are also included at the end allowing students to provide additional input that may not be fully captured in the body of the survey.
Category: Schooling
Sub-Category: Teaching
Grades: 3rd Grade, 4th Grade, 5th Grade, 6th Grade, 7th Grade, 8th Grade, 9th Grade, 10th Grade, 11th Grade, 12th Grade
TeamUp Rubric
TeamUP is a package of teaching and learning activities based on a theoretically grounded assessment rubric (Hastie et al., 2014). This rubric was designed to guide student learning and to assess the teamwork skills that they practice while undertaking team-based academic assignments in higher education. The focus of the TeamUP Rubric is on the fundamental teamwork behaviours that can be taught, practised and assessed so that individual students are enabled to develop their skills over time. Students use the rubric to provide anonymous peer feedback to each other; the subject coordinator then assigns individual teamwork marks, taking into account peer feedback and other evidence such as project plans and meeting minutes. The other elements of TeamUP aresix lectures and six associated skills practice tutorials on topics directly relevant to the skill domains referred to in the rubric.
Category: Student Well-Being
Sub-Category: Social-Emotional Competence
Grades: Post secondary
The Bridge-Positive Youth Development (Bridge-PYD)
The Bridge-Positive Youth Development measure is an open-source, 40-item Likert survey initially validated using responses from 7-18-year-old children in a community-based after school program in Denver, CO. It uses a resilience-based framework incorporating the 5 Cs: Competence, Confidence, Connection, Character, and Caring/Compassion.
Category: Student Well-Being
Sub-Category: Social-Emotional Competence
Grades: 2nd Grade, 3rd Grade, 4th Grade, 5th Grade, 6th Grade, 7th Grade, 8th Grade, 9th Grade, 10th Grade, 11th Grade
The Flourishing Children Project (FCP)
The Flourishing Children Project, funded by the John Templeton Foundation, has constructed 20 scales based on a nationally representative sample to measure different dimensions of personal flourishing. The scales are open access, and many offer versions for both adolescents (ages 12-18) and parents. The scales fall into 5 categories: Personal Flourishing, Flourishing in School and Work, Flourishing in Relationships, Relationship Skills, and Environmental Stewardship.
Category: Student Well-Being
Sub-Category: Social-Emotional Competence
Grades: 7th Grade, 8th Grade, 9th Grade, 10th Grade, 11th Grade, 12th Grade
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
The Motivation and Engagement Scale Junior (MES-J)
Created along the Motivation and Engagement Wheel, the Motivation and Engagement Scale consists of eleven motivation and engagement subscales congruent with the eleven first-order factors in the Wheel (i.e., self-efficacy, valuing, mastery orientation, planning, task management, persistence, anxiety, failure avoidance, uncertain control, self-handicapping, and disengagement). The eleven subscales can be separated into four major groups representing the four higher-order motivation and engagement factors (i.e., adaptive cognition, adaptive behaviour, impeding cognition, and maladaptive behaviour). Each of the eleven MES subscales comprises four items—hence, the MES is a 44-item instrument. To respond to the MES, a 5-point Likert-type scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree), is provided. An 11 item short form is also available.
Category: Student Well-Being
Sub-Category: Social-Emotional Competence
Grades: 5th Grade, 6th Grade, 7th Grade, 8th Grade
The Motivation and Engagement Scale-University/College (MES-UC)
Created along the Motivation and Engagement Wheel, the Motivation and Engagement Scale consists of eleven motivation and engagement subscales congruent with the eleven first-order factors in the Wheel (i.e., self-efficacy, valuing, mastery orientation, planning, task management, persistence, anxiety, failure avoidance, uncertain control, self-handicapping, and disengagement). The eleven subscales can be separated into four major groups representing the four higher-order motivation and engagement factors (i.e., adaptive cognition, adaptive behaviour, impeding cognition, and maladaptive behaviour). Each of the eleven MES subscales comprises four items—hence, the MES is a 44-item instrument. To respond to the MES, a 7-point Likert-type scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree), is provided—with a 1(strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) scale for use with elementary/primary school students. MES has been adapted for use in 3 different educational stages (primary/elementary school MES-Junior School, high school (MES), university/college MES-University/College) and 3 additional performance domains (Music MES-Music, Work MES-Work, Sport MES-Sport). An 11 item short form is also available.
Category: Student Well-Being
Sub-Category: Social-Emotional Competence
Grades: Post secondary
The Problem Solving Inventory (PSI)
The PSI assesses an individual's awareness and evaluation of his or her problem-solving abilities or style, thus provides a global of that individual as a problem solver.The PSI is a self-reported measure . The PSI consists of 35 six-point Likert items (with 3 filler questions), which constitute 3 factors: Problem-Solving Confidence, Approach-Avoidance Style, and Personal Control. The questions were constructed by the authors as face valid measures of each of the five problem-solving stages, based on a revision of an earlier problem-solving inventory. The items were randomly ordered and written to contain an equal number of positive and negative statements about problem solving. Low scores indicate behaviors and attitudes typically associated with successful problem solving.
Category: Student Well-Being
Sub-Category: Social-Emotional Competence
Grades: Post secondary
The Science Management Observation Protocol (SMOP)
The Science Management Observation Protocol (SMOP) is used to conduct structured observations of science classroom practice. SMOP identifies specific teacher behaviors and classroom characteristics which influence an inquiry-based classroom. Teachers and administrators can use the protocol to support the development of quality inquiry-based practices.
Category: Schooling
Sub-Category: Teaching
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
The Social Problem Solving Inventory Revised
The Social Problem-Solving Inventory-Revised (SPSI-R; D’Zurilla et al., 2002) is a 52-item, Likert-type inventory consisting of five major scales that measure the five different dimensions in the D’Zurilla et al. social problem-solving model. These scales are the Positive Problem Orientation (PPO) scale (5 items), the Negative Problem Orientation (NPO) scale (10 items), the Rational Problem Solving (RPS) scale (20 items), the Impulsivity/Carelessness Style (ICS) scale (10 items), and the Avoidance Style (AS)scale (7 items). Using this instrument, “good” social problem-solving ability is indicated by high scores on PPO and RPS and low scores on NPO, ICS, and AS, whereas “poor” social problem-solving ability is indicated by low scores on PPO and RPS and high scores on NPO, ICS, and AS. In addition to the five major scales, the RPS scale is broken down into four subscales (each with five items) that measure the four major problem-solving skills in the D’Zurilla et al. social problem-solving model: (a) the Problem Definition and Formulation (PDF) subscale, (b) the Generation of Alternative Solutions (GAS) subscale,(c) the Decision Making (DM) subscale, and (d) the Solution Implementation and Verification (SIVS) subscale. A 25-item short form of the SPSI-R is also available that measures the five major problem-solving dimensions but does not provide subscales that measure the four specific skills within the rational problem-solving construct.
Category: Student Well-Being
Sub-Category: Social-Emotional Competence
Grades: 9th Grade, 10th Grade, 11th Grade, 12th Grade, Post secondary
The Social-Emotional Assets and Resilience Scales (SEARS)
The Social-Emotional Assets and Resilience Scales (SEARS) were developed at the University of Oregon and are sold by Psychological Assessment Resources (PAR). They measure responsibility, self regulation, social competence, and empathy, and contain both long and short forms for K-12 students, parents, and teachers. The forms are often used for progress monitoring and program evaluations. PAR sells the forms in English and Spanish, and they have also been translated into Chinese and Portuguese.
Category: Student Well-Being
Sub-Category: Social-Emotional Competence
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
VIA Youth Survey
The Values in Action Youth Survey (VIA Youth Survey) is an open-access Likert survey for children ages 10-17 measuring 24 character strengths within the broad categories Courage, Humanity, Justice, Temperance, Transcendence, and Wisdom. It has both a 96- and 198- item version, and it has been adapted into many other languages and shorter forms. Values in Action also makes adult character strength surveys and other assessments for younger children such as the Character Strengths Inventory for Children (CSI-C) and the Character Strengths Inventory for Early Childhood (CSI-EC) for children ages 7-12 and 3-6, respectively.
Category: Student Well-Being
Sub-Category: Social-Emotional Competence
Grades: 5th Grade, 6th Grade, 7th Grade, 8th Grade, 9th Grade, 10th Grade, 11th Grade, 12th Grade
Washoe County School District Social and Emotional Competency Assessments (WCSD-SECAs)
The Washoe County School District Social and Emotional Competency Assessments (WCSD-SECAs) are free, open-source instruments that measure the self-reported social and emotional competencies of students in grades 5-12. The WCSD-SECA instruments were developed through a collaboration among WCSD, the Collaborative for Academic and Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL), and the University of Illinois at Chicago through an Institute of Education Sciences Research-Practitioner Partnership grant.
Category: Student Well-Being
Sub-Category: Social-Emotional Competence
Grades: 5th Grade, 6th Grade, 7th Grade, 8th Grade, 9th Grade, 10th Grade, 11th Grade, 12th Grade
ZooU
ZooU is a game/performance based SEL assessment tool for students in grades 2 - 4. It is published and sold by Centervention, which also publishes other game-based assessments Zoo Academy (grades K-1), SS Grin (grades 3-5) Hall of Heroes (grades 6-8), and Stories in Motion (for K-5 students with autism).
Category: Student Well-Being
Sub-Category: Social-Emotional Competence
Grades: 2nd Grade, 3rd Grade, 4th Grade