Using SEL/life skills assessments to influence policy and practice for equitable learning opportunities: reflections from three national-level assessments

• In Event: Using assessment and research evidence to challenge the education status quo: lessons from Africa, Asia and Latin America

Proposal

There is a growing interest, among education policy makers and donors, in addressing the poorest and most marginalized populations, referred to as the Bottom of the Pyramid—BoP. While the United Nations SDGs emphasize quality education, the actualization of this goal (Goal 4) has not effectively reached the BoP where significant barriers to learning prevent students from reaching the same education attainment as their peers—perhaps those ‘higher’ within the pyramid. Moreover, The United Nations SDG Report (2022) highlights that such inequality in learning will be further exacerbated following COVID-19. Thus, now more than ever, it is imperative that research, policy, and funding focus on equity. How can we ensure that all children not just some are learning?
Research suggests social and emotional learning has the potential to address inequities in academic achievement and improve learning for all, yet little is shared on the relationship between certain SEL sub-skills and academic skills and policy makers and other stakeholders do not necessarily grant much attention to SEL implementation. While there have been very few national-level assessments of SEL in Low- and Middle-Income Country (LMIC) to demonstrate the link between SEL and academic achievement, three recent assessments from East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda) and Ethiopia are some of the first to provide data—from national assessments--to inform our understanding of how environmental and social factors influence social and emotional development and the relationship between SEL and academic performance.
The three case studies provide insights for us to consider regarding SEL’s potential to improve equity in learning by examining: 1) the demographic drivers for SEL and SEL skills development (Kenya Tusome); 2) the mutual dependency between SEL and literacy and numeracy (found in assessment of life skills and values in East Africa and Young Lives Ethiopia); and 3) the role of the classroom environment in social emotional development.
This paper concludes with a series of recommendations for education systems to challenge the status quo regarding the teaching and learning process and regarding using SEL assessment evidence to shift policy and practice. We recommend that education systems and programs be more intentional in weaving SEL into pre- and in-service teacher education and into the teaching and learning processes (especially given what we know about the demographic drivers of SEL). Furthermore, we consider how policies, programming and attitude can be shifted to focus on the nurturing of these skills. In the context of assessment of life skills and values in East Africa, we argue that this would involve establishing relationships with key stakeholders, including policymakers, education practitioners, curriculum and assessment technocrats, advocacy groups, parent and teacher associations and the media from the beginning of the process of developing assessment tools to sharing of the assessment results.

Authors

• Devotha Festo Mlay, Zizi Afrique Foundation

• Samuel Otieno Owino, Global eSchools and Communities Initiative (GESCI)

• Julianne Norman, RTI International