A continuous improvement approach to social and emotional competency measurement

A four-year research project by a researcher-practitioner partnership to develop a self-report measure of student social and emotional competency to identify at-risk students and guide practice is described. A continuous measure improvement approach facilitated work towards this goal. Items developed collaboratively by the partnership team were administered annually to all 5th, 6th, 8th, and 11th graders in WCSD in the context of their online school climate survey. Despite strong construct validity, initial Rasch analysis revealed a substantial ceiling effect inhibiting assessment of students at the mid-to-high range of social and emotional ability. Student focus groups informed by a latent class analysis were conducted and expert practitioners and scholars refined the items. The process resulted in an improved measure as well as more consistent district-wide survey administration. Strengths and challenges of the scale development process and data use strategies are discussed along with recommendations for future assessment development efforts.