Adaptable, flexible, and contextual: Field-facing measurement of children’s SEL competencies

• In Event: Contextualizing Social and Emotional Learning: Assessment

Proposal

The focus on SEL programming in low-resource or emergency contexts has raised questions about the effects of these programs. Do SEL programs in these different contexts actually change the social and emotional competencies in children? What competencies do different programs affect, and how? To answer these questions we need robust measures that are context and program sensitive. However, available measures were developed in high-resources contexts and there are four limitations to these measures. First, measures from these high-resource contexts are not always suitable for the field context in a low-resource context or emergency; the time and resources needed for the use of some measures make them unfeasible. Second, SEL competencies are contextual; good perspective taking or conflict resolution may look different in different contexts. The situational nature of measures developed for use in the high-resource contexts often do not translate to low-resource contexts or emergencies. Third, given the variety of logistical and geographic constraints in low-resource contexts and emergencies, we need tools that are easy to adapt and that are flexible. Last, SEL measures need to be field-facing; program staff and community stakeholders need to know what they can do when presented with a profile of children’s SEL development.

The International Social and Emotional Learning Assessment (ISELA) is designed to be adaptable, easy to use if low-resource contexts, and field facing. Developed by Save the Children, ISELA helps us assess the effect of SEL programs on children between 6-14 years of age. It provides a picture of children’s social support network, empathy, self-concept, prosocial behavior, conflict behavior, and understanding of the SEL environment around them.

ISELA has been used in programs in Egypt, Jordan, Mexico, South Sudan, and Thailand. In this study, we focus on the contextualization and validation of this tool in an education program in Malawi. The aim of this study was to test the revised version of ISELA and understand its psychometric properties. We sampled 641 primary school children (50% female), from grade 1-7. Children were selected randomly from 57 schools supported by Save the Children’s Sponsorship programming. Overall, ISELA demonstrated strong statistical rigor and reliability. Nearly all items that were theoretically or statistically composited had a strong internal consistency reliability. Additionally, as children’s age increased, they scored higher on all the measured SEL competencies, for both boys and girls. In the presentation we will discuss the use of this tool and the challenges we face in measuring SEL competencies in a variety of low-resource and emergency contexts.

Author

• Nikhit D'Sa, Save the Children