SEL Assessment » Introduction

Research in school improvement makes the strong case that data-driven decision-making and instructional feedback figure prominently in successful schools. Moreover, schools are increasingly expected to provide data, data, and more data, and to use these data for self-management and improvement. For SEL to survive and thrive in this environment, accountability for impacts and improvement is a must. Evaluation is necessary to help you to understand the impact of your SEL programming, and it can provide you with feedback to make your practices more effective. Evaluation also helps to sustain your programming efforts. It documents the work your staff has done in ways that may lead to additional funding and other forms of support. It is not something you “do at the end.” It should happen just as you are starting out, and continue throughout the implementation process.

There are three main types of evaluation: needs and resources assessment, process evaluation, and outcome evaluation. All are important, but they take place at different phases of your implementation process.

Needs and Resources Evaluation
Beginning with a needs and resources assessment will allow your school to identify existing problems or issues as well as areas of strength, allowing you to use data to build support for your program. The needs assessment also provides a baseline or starting-point “snapshot” of conditions and skills of students and staff. This will be a point of reference in later assessing the effects of changes brought about by your SEL work. This type of assessment will answer questions such as:

• What SEL programs, activities, and polices are in place at our school?
• How well are we developing students’ social and emotional competencies across the major skill areas?
• What are the starting conditions our students are experiencing before we begin on SEL programming? What is the current climate? How much bullying and other negative behaviors are taking place? What can our kids do well?
• What behavioral domains (e.g., bullying, health, substance abuse) are we addressing, and are the efforts well coordinated?
• What practices do we have that promote a safe, caring, and participatory school environment?
• How well are we integrating the teaching of SEL in classes, across grades, and with other school services, programs, and supports?
• How well are we involving parents and the community to promote SEL?
• Are there shortcomings in financial or personnel resources we need to address before we can commit to SEL in a serious way? Is our school ready for change?
• Is there sufficient support, enthusiasm, and leadership now, or will these need to be cultivated further?

Process Evaluation
A process evaluation allows you to look at how and what you are implementing and if you are being faithful to the goals of your selected programs and practices. As the SEL initiative gets underway, documenting and assessing the implementation process will allow your school to monitor its progress and determine where you need to make mid-course corrections to be more effective. A process evaluation will also help you to interpret your outcome results. All of the data collected from these efforts can be used both to make programming improvements and to gain support for SEL.

A process evaluation can answer the following questions:

• In what areas do we need additional support and training?
• How do different stakeholders feel about the process of SEL implementation so far?
• What factors have helped us be effective?
• What challenges are we facing?
• Are we implementing the program in the way it was designed and intended (fidelity)?
• Can we sustain the program with our current efforts?
• If we do not get the results we expect, is it because we did not carry out our SEL work in the way we had planned?

Download CASEL’s Practice Rubric for Schoolwide SEL Implementation as a way to assess your starting practices.

Outcome Evaluation
The purpose of outcome evaluation is to determine if your SEL program and associated schoolwide SEL practices are having a positive impact on students. It can answer the following questions:

• Are there any changes in student behavior and academic performance?
• Do SEL outcomes support district, state, and national standards of achievement?
• Is there any change in the quality of the school’s climate?
• Has the program had an impact on relationships between the school and families?

In doing outcome evaluation it is important to have tools that allow you to compare student behavior and school climate changes across time. Assuming your program is being implemented as planned, it will very likely take a year or two before any major changes can be observed. This is one reason to have continuing assessment and feedback built into the plan, providing indicators and markers along the way. End-of-the-year data about the program should be viewed as a springboard for enhancing your SEL programming in the following year. Think of these evaluations as annual checkups.

Another important aspect of evaluation is the dissemination of your findings first to key administrators, and then with teachers, staff, students, and parents and other community members. The report should include (ideally, with tables or graphics to help explain the data) what the goals of the project were, the findings, an explanation of what the results mean, and next steps and future directions.

CASEL’s Sustainable Schoolwide SEL Implementation Guide and Toolkit offers additional guidance and tools for assessing outcomes.