Developing contextually-relevant SEL measures in Honduras: Exploring new ways in which to measure skills for children

• In Event: Innovative and contextually relevant measurement instruments to enhance Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) monitoring and evaluation processes

Proposal

The Contextually Relevant Emotional and Social Wellbeing Tools (CREST) study aims to understand how children, parents, and teachers define and prioritize student social and emotional learning (SEL), to produce contextually relevant assessment instruments. Despite the growing interest in improving students' SEL, interventions to promote such learning must have validated instruments that are relevant to the context and enable policymakers to make informed decisions. The CREST study seeks to contribute to closing this gap in the literature for Honduras, Liberia, Haiti, and Colombia.

In this presentation, we will focus on the process and results from Honduras. In Stage 0, the research leads in Honduras conducted a literature review and a set of key informant interviews to understand the current state of SEL in Honduras, including existing experiences and research, as well as public policies and initiatives. At the end of this phase, a workshop was held with stakeholders from government, academia, and industry to: (1) understand the country's evidence ecosystem, (2) support the prioritization of participating institutions, and (3) establish a committee of local expert advisors who could provide ongoing feedback and guidance on the process. Using the prioritized institutions, we used a qualitative research approach in Stage 1 with students, parents, and teachers, to identify local definitions of SEL, as well as the relevant skills and dimensions that comprise these skills. We analyzed the data from these focus groups and identified the following five skills and dimensions to be prioritized for the Honduras context: emotion recognition (recognize own emotions and others' emotions), empathy (cognitive and emotional empathy), self-control (behavioral control and managing emotions), conflict resolution (negotiation, cooperation, and repair), and effective communication (active listening and assertive communication). The findings from this stage were validated in two additional focus groups at two different schools.

During Stage 2, our research team worked collaboratively to design and iteratively refine a set of items measuring these constructs. The plan in this stage was to create a set of items that could be used to create a Berkeley Puppet Interview protocol, adapted for a mobile app. This instrument was first piloted with children in two schools using cognitive interviews to ensure that it was accessible and understandable for the participants and to identify potential improvements and adjustments to these items. Once refined, we moved to Stage 3: the instrument was delivered to approximately 600 students from different contexts, ages, ethnicities, and cultural backgrounds in Honduras. This data was used for psychometric analysis using Classical Test Theory and Item Response Theory. The results from the psychometric analysis enabled the research team to make additional adjustments to the items and the instrument as a whole. This panel will present the findings of Stages 1-3, and the lessons learned to develop a contextually-relevant assessment tool for SEL.

Authors

• Camilo Vieira, Universidad del Norte

• German Edgardo Moncada Godoy, UPNFM