Assessing social, emotional and intercultural programs in schools
For some time now the importance of the inclusion of social, emotional and intercultural competencies (SEI) in schools has been supported by organisations such as the OECD. Many schools have now embedded these competencies into learning and teaching programs with great success. However, little information is yet available regarding the assessment of these competencies.
A recent paper published in the Educational Research Review shares the findings of a systematic literature review that produced an inventory of existing tools for the assessment of SEI competences of students and school staff. An interdisciplinary and international research team conducted this systematic literature review in the databases of ERIC, PsycInfo, PSYNDEX, Scopus, and Web of Science. Out of 13,963 articles, 149 assessment tools were examined and processed.
General findings included:
- Assessment tools included in large part self-report inventories, primarily surveys and questionnaires.
- Alternative measurement methods (e.g. vignettes, interviews, and observations) are already used, but to a small extent.
- Further research regarding the development of alternative measurement methods is required.
- Mixed method designs based on quantitative and qualitative analyses could be an enrichment to achieve more comprehensive results.
- There are only a few relevant instruments on intercultural competences and for the most part, they are not linked to social and emotional competences.
As more and more schools are implementing these SEI’s it is important to consider how this investment of time and resources is being measured and assessed for impact. What is the change the school wishes to see as a result of these programs and how are you measuring this?
The full article can be accessed here: https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S1747938X19300430?token=B5E039B1BC41C9763F8B5F22EFE36DB64063114441774DA22B0B06566DEE7B21BE20339C371FD0FA71EA7F411E82F17F
