SEL Tool Kit

The User Guide provides background and step-by-step directions to support expanded learning staff in using two tools to support social emotional learning (SEL) at their programs: a staff survey (5 Alive Staff Survey) and a student assessment tool (5 Alive Student Assessment). The tools are designed for programs that have adopted a formal SEL curriculum as well as those that more generally incorporate SEL into their program. Additionally, both tools focus on specific skills related to the five core SEL competencies that were identified by the CASEL framework.

Through the 5 Alive Staff Survey, instructors can report on evidence of their students’ social emotional development, gauge their own readiness for delivering SEL instruction, identify desired resources or helpful supports, and highlight the ways that they are supporting the indicated focus skill(s) through their lessons and/or instructional practices. When the survey was field tested, respondents reported that the process was “quick and easy” and that they appreciated the opportunity to give anonymous feedback. Through successful implementation of the 5 Alive Staff Survey and interpretation of the results, program leaders should be able to accurately assess the SEL curriculum, tailor professional learning, and identify recommendations to improve lessons and instruction.

The 5 Alive Student Assessment tool was created to help expanded learning staff better understand the SEL development of students in grades 3-6. The assessment and administration process helps identify student strengths and areas for growth. The assessment is divided into five mini-assessments, each corresponding to a focus skill aligned with one of the five SEL competencies defined by CASEL. Each mini-assessment includes three activities: a multiple-choice question, a drawing or writing activity, and conversation guide.

Once students complete the assessment, instructors can use the corresponding focus skill’s rubric to score the student on a scale of one to four.

Once students have completed the 5 Alive Student Assessment, instructors can document the results using the 5 Alive Student Assessment Data Form. The data collection tool will store information such as scores and scoring justification for staff to later interpret to inform programming. Below we provide a few recommendations for scoring.

• Please consider every aspect of the assessment in addition to any personal experience with the student when reviewing the rubric and assigning a score.
• The score assigned to the student should be a single, whole number. Please don’t score using decimals.
• If you are unsure between two levels, say level 2 or 3, then skew towards the lower score leaving the student with more opportunity to grow.

In December 2024, expanded learning programs gathered for the How to Use the Tool training. The goals for the training were that participants would become more familiar with the 5 Alive Student Assessment and learn strategies for administering the assessment. The training begins with a quick review of the CASEL framework (the theoretical foundation of the assessment) and then the remainder of the training takes participants step-by-step through the assessment process. A recording, presentation, and training workbook are provided to assist programs in leading their own training for staff. 

Resources Coming Soon

In all, the Delaware School Surveys are comprised of five separate scales. Each scale was made with a focus on creating valid and reliable self-report tools to assess program goals associated with Schoolwide Positive Behavior and Intervention Supports (SWPBIS) and SEL as well as bullying prevention. The Delaware Social and Emotional Competencies Scale (pg. 188) has the most connection to the CASEL framework and was designed to be brief (estimated to take five minutes). Consisting of 20 items, each survey (one for grades 3-5 and another for 6-12) assesses the five competencies, providing scores for each of the subscales as well as the total scale. Please cite the survey if used. 

Scales: Social Awareness, Self-Management, Responsible Decision-Making, Relationship Skills 

Citation: Bear, G., Yang, C., Harris, A., Mantz, L., Hearn, S., & Boyer, D. (2021). Technical Manual for the Delaware School Survey: Scales of School Climate; Bullying Victimization; Student Engagement; Positive, Punitive, and Social Emotional Learning Techniques; and Social and Emotional Competencies. Newark, DE: Center for Disabilities Studies. 

Created in collaboration with CASEL and other partners, the Washoe County School District Social and Emotional Competency Assessments (WCSD-SECAs) measure the self-reported social and emotional competencies of students in grades 5-12. In all, the partenrship resulted in a long-form assessment, a short-form assessment, and an item bank. The long-form is a 40-item instrument that asks students to rate how easy or difficult skills are and thereby measures eight domains of social and emotional competence. The short-form has 17-items and the item bank includes 138 items.

Scales: Self Awareness, Self Management, Responsible Decision-Making, Relationship Skills

The student survey is available for use by grades 3-5 and 6-12. The Panorama’s SEL Survey measures three student areas: skills and competencies, supports and environment, and well-being.

Scales: Social Awareness, Self Awareneess, Self Management,

The 25-item SEL survey was created by the CORE Districts, a group of eight school districts in California committed to measuring and supporting an expanded definition of student success. The survey aims to identify the social-emotional strengths and needs for students in grades 4-12. Measures asks students about their perceptions of their own growth-mindset, self-efficacy, self-management, and social-awareness. Click here for more information.

Scales: Social Awareness, Self Awareneess, Self Management,

Citation: West, M. R., Buckley, K., Krachman, S. B., & Bookman, N. “Development and implementation of student social-emotional surveys in the CORE Districts,” Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 2017.
West, M. R. “Should non-cognitive skills be included in school accountability systems? Preliminary evidence from California’s CORE districts,” Evidence Speaks Reports, Vol. 1, No. 13, 2016.
Hough, H., Kalogrides, D., & Loeb, S. “Using Surveys of Students’ Social-Emotional Learning and School Climate for Accountability and Continuous Improvement,” 2017.

Originally developed in 1999, the 3-item Growth Mindset Scale was created to measure how much people believe that they can get smarter if they work at it. The reading level is between 6th and 8th grade.

Scales: Self Awareness

Citation: Dweck, C. S. (1999). Self-theories: Their role in motivation, personality, and development. Philadelphia: Psychology Press.
Dweck, C. S., Chiu, C. Y., & Hong, Y. Y. (1995). Implicit theories and their role in judgments and reactions: A world from two perspectives. Psychological Inquiry, 6(4), 267-285.

The Growth Mindset Scale for Young Children 36-item assessment was made to measure young children’s mindset about achievement. It is suitable for children as young as four with assistance from an adult. For more information you can find the research paper here.

Scales: Self Awareness

The Social Emotional Health Module (SEHM) was developed by researchers at UC Santa Barbara. The assessment is available for elementary and secondary as well as in English and Spanish. The survey assesses youth:
• empathy,
• self-efficacy,
• self-awareness,
• persistence,
• emotional self-regulation,
• behavioral self-control,
• gratitude,
• zest, and
• optimism.

Scales: Social Awareness

Citation: Furlong, M. J., You, S., Renshaw, T. L., Smith, D. C., & O’Malley, M. D. “Preliminary development and validation of the Social and Emotional Health Survey for secondary school students,” Social Indicators Research, Vol. 117, No. 3, 2014, pp. 1011–1032.