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Assessment of social and emotional learning (SEL) in young children is critical to understanding developmental progress and informing care and instruction. The current study investigated the development of a behavior rating scale designed to measure SEL skills in preschool-age children. The primary objective of this study was to investigate the development of a new strength-based assessment prototype, the Social-Emotional Assets and Resiliency Scale for Preschool (SEARS-Pre). Items for the SEARS-Pre were developed based on a review of literature and existing measures and evaluated by a content validation panel of ten experts in the field. Following the content validation and revision process, local preschools were recruited to pilot the final SEARS-Pre measure. Eighteen instructors from three preschool programs in Oregon participated and completed a total of 94 SEARS-Pre rating forms for students in their classrooms. Results from an exploratory
The significant role that teacher social-emotional competence (SEC) may play in the classroom environment through classroom management, forming positive teacher-student relationships, and implementation of social-emotional learning (SEL) curricula, as well as the influence SEC may have on teachers' overall well-being, requires an assessment that is able to reliably measure this construct in a manner that is valid for research and applied purposes. This study investigated the development of a scale measuring teacher SEC, the Social-Emotional Competence Teacher Rating Scale (SECTRS). The SECTRS was created and evaluated by an expert panel. Following the content validation process and follow-up revisions, the scale was administered to a sample of teachers (N = 302) and the scale's factor structure was explored, along with basic elements of the scale's reliability and validity. Finally, demographic characteristics were assessed to determine if relationships to SEC scores existed across these characteristics. Results of the factor analysis revealed a four-factor solution that explained 37.93% of the variance. The four factors identified measured aspects of teacher-student relationships, emotion regulation, social-awareness, and interpersonal-relationships. Internal consistency reliability estimates ranged from .69 to .88. Convergent validity results revealed that the SECTRS factor and total scores had significant, positive correlations (.44 to .65) with a scale measuring emotional intelligence and low, negative correlations with a scale measuring teacher burnout (.01 to -.34). Teacher ratings on the SECTRS did not demonstrate differences across gender, ethnicity, and community setting. Teacher ratings on the SECTRS differed based upon years of teaching experience, age, teacher setting, and grade-level. Finally, the SECTRS was found to have significant, positive correlations with perceptions of teacher-student relationships (.40 to .64), controlling behavior management st
Social and emotional competencies have received increased attention as important components of school readiness for young children. Universal programs incorporating social and emotional learning (SEL) instruction for all preschool students are needed given the relation between social and emotional competencies in early childhood and later developmental outcomes. The Strong