A locally led SEL Assessment: Linking global tools with local understandings to build a national social-emotional learning assessment in Rwanda

• In Event: Moving the Needle: Addressing challenges in SEL/SS measurement with an emphasis on local contexts

Proposal

Evaluation and assessment tools have traditionally been determined by donors and international implementing partners with little input from program participants and other local actors whom programs are intended to reach. This USAID-funded project worked closely with the Rwanda Ministry of Education to develop a contextualized national Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) framework and an evidence-based locally led SEL intervention. To inform the implementation of this intervention, and measure its effectiveness, the project developed, tested and validated a SEL assessment tool in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, the Rwandan Assessment for Social-Emotional Learning (RASEL). The project used a highly participatory process to ensure the SEL framework and the RASEL are localized, in line with the aim to decolonize aid and assessment practices. As such the SEL framework and RASEL are intended to reflect the values most important to the Rwandan population.
In order to develop the RASEL tool, the project team first conducted a mapping of the constructs included in the Rwandan SEL framework against other known tools such as the International Development for Early Learning Assessment (IDELA) and the International Social and Emotional Learning Assessment (ISELA). The project team led a participatory workshop with members of the Ministry and representative stakeholders including teachers to contextualize existing items from these assessments to the Rwandan context and to develop new items for constructs that did not have a tool, such as creative thinking and critical analysis.
To test and validate the RASEL tool, the team first conducted a cognitive test with a sample of 23 students, followed by a full pilot with 260 students. The team conducted internal reliability and consistency checks, and factor analysis to assess the psychometric validity of the tool. The tool was used in March 2023 to conduct the baseline SEL assessment in 150 Rwandan schools across the country. The presentation will offer lessons learned for contextualizing and validating social-emotional learning tools and discuss the psychometric validation process.
The project team will also share initial results from the baseline assessment and how they are informing program implementation as the project rolls out a nationwide school-based SEL intervention. In an iterative process of collaboration, learning, and adaptation, the project is working to tailor support based on findings from the student-facing RASEL as well as interviews with teachers and head teachers on their understanding of SEL and experience with implementing the program. The presentation will explore how specific findings from the assessments informed the implementation of teacher and school leader training, teaching and learning materials, teacher professional development and coaching, and support for SEL throughout schools, communities, and the education system.

Author

• Elyssa A Skeirik, FHI 360