As you know, I spend a lot of my time thinking and talking about how to assess student social and emotional learning skills. Among the many reasons for this singular focus, one rises to the top: it matters. I do
By Clark McKown What the $#&^!@* is Direct Assessment of Student Social and Emotional Learning Skill? I think you’ll agree with me that terminology is, well… boring. But let’s also admit that not understanding terminology can cause problems, like, for
Defining Social Emotional Learning Skills There are many frameworks, models, and definitions of Social and Emotional Learning (SEL). As a result, when trying to comes to grip with what SEL is, it can get overwhelming. While there’s little doubt that
By Clark McKown Recently, the xSEL Labs team met with a group of educators in an ethnically and socioeconomically diverse school district that is using our SEL assessment to inform their SEL instruction. As is so often the case, the
By Clark McKown People often have very strong opinions about student assessment, particularly when it comes to social and emotional learning assessment. This is especially true when discussing the use of SEL assessment for screening. One colleague is adamant that
By Clark McKown Forgive me for being master of the obvious here, but SEL assessment data alone won’t change the world. But they can help. These two blog posts (starting with Making Sense of your SEL Assessment Data) are designed
By Clark McKown A colleague of mine in the education community and I were discussing SEL assessment a couple of years ago. Her district had recently administered SELweb EE, our SEL assessment system, to assess children in first through third
By Clark McKown My colleagues and I think a lot about how to use SEL assessment data for continuous improvement to make life better for teachers and the kids they serve, and for researchers who care about student social-emotional outcomes.
By Clark McKown (Originally appeared in the Transforming Education blog on July 11, 2018.) Multi-tiered systems of support, or MTSS, are based on a simple and positive premise: We should use data to teach in ways that build on student
By Clark McKown Most people agree that children are better off when they have the skills they need to interact effectively with others, form positive relationships, and participate successfully in school and life. These are social-emotional skills, and the process
