# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Formative vs. Summative Assessment: What's the Difference?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Learn the difference between formative vs. summative assessments. See how and when teachers use these types of evaluations to test students' knowledge.

# data[].attributes.headline
Building SEL Skills Through Formative Assessment

# data[].attributes.subject
Building SEL Skills Through Formative Assessment

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Formative assessment owes much of its current popularity to Black and Wiliam's (1998) conclusion that it is potentially one of a classroom educator's most powerful tools to enhance student learning. However, a more recent analysis by Kingston and Nash (2011) shed some doubt on this claim, pointing out that it can be implemented in many different ways, from short question-answer activities to long, formal tests. While some types of assessments were effective (such as providing feedback), others had limited effectiveness in classrooms.

What Does the Social and Emotional Learning Practitioner Do?

Social and emotional learning (SEL) helps students develop skills that provide a foundation for being a good student, citizen, and worker (CASEL, 2013):

1. Self-awareness: accurately recognizing one's emotions and thoughts, and their influence on behavior

2. Self-management: regulating thoughts, emotions, and behaviors in different situations and being able to set and achieve personal and academic goals

3. Social awareness: taking the perspective of and empathizing with others from diverse backgrounds

4. Relationship skills: establishing and maintaining constructive relationships with diverse individuals and groups

5. Responsible decision making: making ethical and respectful choices about personal behavior and social interactions

SEL practitioners can help develop skills in every type of school and in students of every background through systematically teaching, modeling, and facilitating students' application of these skills in daily life, and establishing caring and highly engaging classroom and schoolwide learning environments. More than two decades of research document that well-designed, effectively implemented SEL programs enhance students' social and emotional skills, self-esteem, bonding to school, classroom behavior, and academic achievement; and reduce disruptive classroom behavior, aggression, bullying, and substance use (Durlak et al., 2011; Greenberg et al., 2003; Sklad, Dieskstra, De Ritter, Ben, & Gravesteijn, 2012; Zins et al., 2004).

Given these positive findings, another reasonable question that a practitioner might ask is, "What am I supposed to do regarding formative assessment and SEL?" Despite the ambiguous findings to date, which are largely due to the varied ways that formative assessment can be used, looking specifically at feedback can be helpful. Hattie and Timperley (2007) synthesized the research on feedback and developed an effective model that focused on establishing clear learning goals, tracking student progress toward those goals, and helping students identify their possible next steps to attain those goals.

Setting Goals for Social and Emotional Learning

A chart (see image below) can be used to help students progress from low-level SEL skills (such as simply knowing what's important), to mid-level skills (being able to execute the steps or strategies associated with SEL), to high-level skills (making conscious decisions to use the skill in appropriate situations).
© 2015 Guilford Press
The progression depicted in this chart allows for tracking a student's progress and nicely fits the criteria for formative assessment suggested by the research on feedback. That is, it provides a clear goal -- in this case, the ability to execute the SEL skill at the top level. It allows students to track their progress over time. Additionally, it provides guidance as to the next steps that students must take. For example, if a student understands the declarative knowledge appropriate to the SEL skill, the next step would be to start practicing and shaping the skill.

Using the SEL progression chart, score values of 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 can be associated with a student's progress:

Score 4

The student makes conscious decisions to use SEL skills in appropriate situations. For example:

Understanding how one's own beliefs might stop him or her from expressing an understanding of those who have different opinions

Being able to make revisions in one's own beliefs

Score 3

The student is able to execute the steps or strategies associated with SEL skills without error and with some fluency. For example:

Acknowledging the opinions of others, even if different from one's own

Actively listening to others

When making a point that is counter to someone else's opinion, focusing on the logic of the point

Score 2

The student understands the declarative knowledge important to an SEL skill and is able to explain or describe what an SEL skill is. For example:

Understanding, in general terms, that SEL skills (such as acknowledging the opinions of others or listening actively) exist

Knowing the meaning of basic terms such as opinion, disagreement, conflict, confrontation, and respect

Score 1

The student has partial success at achieving SEL skill proficiency at score 2 or 3, but needs help.

Score 0

Even with help, the student has no success at achieving SEL skill proficiency.

Partial scores, such as 2.5 or 3.5, can be given for proficiency at a certain level and partial proficiency at the next level.
Editor's note: The SEL Progression Chart is adapted from the Marzano Scale adapted for SEL skills, which can be found in chapter 22 of the Handbook of Social and Emotional Learning.
3 Assessments to Build SEL Skills

To help students develop their SEL skills, teachers can use the following assessment strategies:

Probing Discussions

When using a probing discussion, a teacher meets with an individual student and asks him or her questions about the SEL skill, making sure to address the score 2 content, the score 3 content, and the score 4 content. In this scenario, the teacher has the flexibility to continue asking questions until he or she is reasonably confident about the student's level of proficiency. For example, if the teacher determines that the student has demonstrated adequate understanding of the simpler content (i.e., score 2 content) and demonstrated partial understanding of the score 3 content, the student is assigned a score of 2.5.

Unobtrusive Assessments

With an unobtrusive assessment, a student might not even be aware that he or she has been assessed. For example, assume that a teacher observes one student interacting with another student regarding a topic about which they disagree. The teacher notices that the first student is trying to use strategies specific to the skill of expressing understanding of those who hold different opinions, which indicates score 3 behavior. However, the student is making some errors or omissions in the execution of those strategies. The teacher would assign a score of 2.5 for that student at that point in time.

Student-Generated Assessments

Student-generated assessments are perhaps the most powerful form of assessment when using proficiency scales. In such situations, the student approaches the teacher and proposes how he or she will exhibit a specific level of performance on the proficiency scale. For example, a student who is currently at the score 3 level for the skill of "expressing understanding of those who hold different opinions" might propose describing the specific beliefs that he or she had to adjust to begin using the skill in new situations. As evidence that he or she now operates at the score 4 level, the student might make that presentation in a video recording given to the teacher.

Guidelines and Recommendations

To implement the suggestions presented here, a teacher must begin by unpacking SEL standards with an eye toward identifying the explicit or implicit skill. Next, the teacher translates the skill into a learning progression like the examples shown in the SEL Progression Chart (see above image).

Scales should be presented to students and translated into "student-friendly" language. This is best done by asking students to work in small groups and translate the score 2, 3, and 4 content into familiar, readily-understood language and examples. Students should then have ample opportunity to practice their SEL skills using highly structured and teacher-directed scenarios, eventually progressing to more open-ended opportunities. For score 4 content, students can record insights about their beliefs that may inhibit their use of SEL skills, using a journal that they share only with the teacher. This allows them to be candid about their self-discovery and interact privately with the teacher through the journals.

Having students track their progress on specific SEL skills using charts or bar graphs is a very powerful and motivational tool. Each level of advancement on the proficiency scale is an opportunity for positive interaction between teacher and student. Advancement on the scale should always be acknowledged and celebrated.

Finally, the more that student-generated assessments are used to demonstrate competence at different levels of the scale, the better. These assessments put students in charge of their own success and afford them control over how they will demonstrate competence. By definition, such deliberations make students think deeply about a particular SEL skill.

Potential Problems and Pitfalls

A common tendency when teaching and assessing SEL skills is to treat them lightly, without producing actual changes in students' skills or behaviors. Using formative assessment activities can help safeguard against this tendency.

Mastering an SEL skill represents one of the more significant challenges that students face in their PreK-12 careers, in no small part due to the complex relationship between young people's self-awareness, self-efficacy, motivations, and beliefs about themselves, their peers, and the world around them. This cannot be done in a cavalier manner. Students should have a firm grounding in the fact that their behavior is greatly influenced by their beliefs and goals, and that they have the power to enhance their own lives and the lives of those with whom they come into contact.

Perhaps this is the ultimate goal of teaching and assessing SEL skills -- providing students with an understanding of why humans make decisions, and the power to make decisions based on well-reasoned beliefs as opposed to beliefs inherited from their past or their immediate surroundings.

Notes

Black, P. & Wiliam, D. (1998). "Assessment and classroom learning." Assessment in Education, 5(1), pp.7-74.

Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (2013). 2013 CASEL Guide: Effective social, and emotional learning programs - Preschool and elementary school edition. Chicago: Author.

Durlak, J.A., Weissberg, R.P., Dymnicki, A.B., Taylor, R.D., & Schellinger, K.B. (2011). "The impact of enhancing students' social and emotional learning: A meta‐analysis of school‐based universal interventions." Child Development, 82(1), pp.405-432.

Greenberg, M.T., Weissberg, R.P., O'Brien, M.U., Zins, J.E., Fredericks, L., Resnik, H., & Elias, M.J. (2003). "Enhancing school-based prevention and youth development through coordinated social, emotional, and academic learning." American Psychologist, 58(6-7), p.466.

Hattie, J. & Timperley, H. (2007). "The power of feedback." Review of Educational Research, 77(1), pp.81-112.

Heritage, M. (2008). Learning progressions: Supporting instruction and formative assessment. Washington, DC: Council of Chief State School Officers.

Kingston, N. & Nash, B. (2011). "Formative assessment: A meta‐analysis and a call for research." Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, 30(4), pp.28-37.

Sklad, M., Diekstra, R., Ritter, M.D., Ben, J., & Gravesteijn, C. (2012). "Effectiveness of school‐based universal social, emotional, and behavioral programs: Do they enhance students' development in the area of skill, behavior, and adjustment?" Psychology in the Schools, 49(9), pp.892-909.

Zins, J.E., Weissberg, R.P., Wang, M.C., & Walberg, H.J. (Eds.) (2004). Building academic success on social and emotional learning: What does the research say? New York: Teachers College Press.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Building SEL Skills Through Formative Assessment

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Formative assessment owes much of its current popularity to Black and Wiliam's (1998) conclusion that it is potentially one of a classroom educator's most powerful tools to enhance student learning. However, a more recent analysis by Kingston and Nash (2011) shed some doubt on this claim, pointing out that it can be implemented in many different ways, from short question-answer activities to long, formal tests.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The Social, Emotional, Character Development (SECD) standards were adopted in April of 2012 and revised in July of 2018 by the Kansas State Board of Education. They are designed to help keep children safe and successful while developing their academic, social-emotional and post-secondary skills. Kansas was the first state to adopted social-emotional character development standards.

A committee composed of teachers, counselors, administrators, and parents led by co-chairs Noalee McDonald-Augustine (Smoky Hill Service Center) and Wendy Tien (Circle High School) were charged with ensuring the standards aligned with other state initiatives including kindergarten readiness, social-emotional growth, graduation, MTSS, school mental health, prevention statutes and post-secondary success.

The purpose of the Social, Emotional, and Character Development Standards is to provide schools a framework for integrating social-emotional growth (SEG) with character development so that students will learn, practice and model essential personal life habits that contribute to academic, social-emotional and post-secondary success. It is about learning to be caring and civil, to make healthy decisions, to problem solve effectively, to value excellence, to be respectful and responsible, to be good citizens and to be empathetic and ethical individuals.

Please forward questions to:

Kent Reed: KSDE School Counseling, KSDE SECD Standards/Curriculum/Evaluation kreed@ksde.org
Noalee McDonald-Augustine: SECD Standards Co-chair, Ks.character.org, SECD Trainer, Smoky Hill ESC NMcDonald@smokyhill.org
Wendy Tien: SECD Standards Co-chair, Circle High School wtien@usd375.org

Susan Johnson: SECD Trainer, Greenbush ESC susanjohnsonconsulting@gmail.com

Mary Getto: SECD Trainer, Keystone ESC marygetto@yahoo.com

Jodi Grover: SECD Trainer, ESSDACK ESC jodigrover@essdack.org

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Kansas State Department of Education > Agency > Division of Learning Services > Career Standards and Assessment Services > Content Area M-Z > School Counseling > Social Emotional Character Development: Standards, Assessment, and Instruction

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Social, Emotional, Character Development (SECD) standards were adopted in April of 2012 and revised in July of 2018 by the Kansas State Board of Education. They are designed to help keep children safe and successful while developing their academic, social-emotional and post-secondary skills. Kansas was the first state to adopted social-emotional character development standards.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Foster knowledge, skills, and attitudes across five areas of social and emotional competence;

Establish equitable learning environments and coordinate practices across four key settings that support students' social, emotional, and academic development.

Download more information on the framework (available in and Spanish).

Use our reflection protocol to facilitate a discussion on implementation efforts in your school, district, or other setting.

Read more about the 2020 update to our framework, which highlighted the potential of SEL in promoting educational equity and excellence.

Back to top

Communities

Communities. Community partners often provide safe and developmentally rich settings for learning and development, have deep understanding of community needs and assets, are seen as trusted partners by families and students, and have connections to additional supports and services that school and families need. Community programs also offer opportunities for young people to practice their social and emotional skills in settings that are both personally relevant and can open opportunities for their future. To integrate SEL efforts across the school day and out-of-school time, school staff and community partners should align on common language and coordinate strategies and communication around SEL-related efforts and initiatives.
Learn more: CASEL Guide to Schoolwide SEL - Community Partnerships

Families & Caregivers

Families & Caregivers. When schools and families form authentic partnerships, they can build strong connections that reinforce students' social and emotional development. Families and caregivers are children's first teachers, and bring deep expertise about their development, experiences, culture, and learning needs. These insights and perspectives are critical to informing, supporting, and sustaining SEL efforts. Research suggests that evidence-based SEL programs are more effective when they extend into the home, and families are far more likely to form partnerships with schools when their schools' norms, values, and cultural representations reflect their own experiences. Schools need inclusive decision-making processes that ensure that families-particularly those from historically marginalized groups-are part of planning, implementing, and continuously improving SEL.

Schools can also create other avenues for family partnership that may include creating ongoing two-way communication with families, helping caregivers understand child development, helping teachers understand family backgrounds and cultures, providing opportunities for families to volunteer in schools, extending learning activities and discussions into homes, and coordinating family services with community partners. These efforts should engage families in understanding, experiencing, informing, and supporting the social and emotional development of their students.
Learn more: CASEL Guide to Schoolwide SEL - Family Partnerships

Schools

Schools. Effectively integrating SEL schoolwide involves ongoing planning, implementation, evaluation, and continuous improvement by all members of the school community. SEL efforts both contribute to and depend upon a school climate where all students and adults feel respected, supported, and engaged.

Because the school setting includes many contexts-classrooms, hallways, cafeteria, playground, bus-fostering a healthy school climate and culture requires active engagement from all adults and students. A strong school culture is rooted in students' sense of belonging, with evidence that suggests that it plays a crucial role in students' engagement. SEL also offers an opportunity to enhance existing systems of student support by integrating SEL goals and practices with universal, targeted, and intensive academic and behavioral supports. By coordinating and building upon SEL practices and programs, schools can create an environment that infuses SEL into every part of students' educational experience and promotes positive social, emotional, and academic outcomes for all students.
Learn more: CASEL Guide to Schoolwide SEL

Classrooms

Classrooms. Research has shown that social and emotional competence can be enhanced using a variety of classroom-based approaches such as: (a) explicit instruction through which social and emotional skills and attitudes are taught and practiced in developmentally, contextually, and culturally responsive ways; (b) teaching practices such as cooperative learning and project-based learning; and (c) integration of SEL and academic curriculum such as language arts, math, science, social studies, health, and performing arts. High-quality SEL instruction has four elements represented by the acronym SAFE: Sequenced - following a coordinated set of training approaches to foster the development of competencies; Active - emphasizing active forms of learning to help students practice and master new skills; Focused - implementing curriculum that intentionally emphasizes the development of SEL competencies; and Explicit - defining and targeting specific skills, attitudes, and knowledge.

SEL instruction is carried out most effectively in nurturing, safe environments characterized by positive, caring relationships among students and teachers. To facilitate age-appropriate and culturally responsive instruction, adults must understand and appreciate the unique strengths and needs of each student and support students' identities. When adults incorporate students' personal experiences and cultural backgrounds and seek their input, they create an inclusive classroom environment where students are partners in the educational process, elevating their own agency. Strong relationships between adults and students can facilitate co-learning, foster student and adult growth, and generate collaborative solutions to shared concerns.
Learn more: CASEL Guide to Effective SEL Programs

Self-Awareness

Self-awareness: The abilities to understand one's own emotions, thoughts, and values and how they influence behavior across contexts. This includes capacities to recognize one's strengths and limitations with a well-grounded sense of confidence and purpose.

Such as:

Integrating personal and social identities

Identifying personal, cultural, and linguistic assets

Identifying one's emotions

Demonstrating honesty and integrity

Linking feelings, values, and thoughts

Examining prejudices and biases

Experiencing self-efficacy

Having a growth mindset

Developing interests and a sense of purpose

Check out this video from PBS Learning Media for more information.

Self-Management

Self-management: The abilities to manage one's emotions, thoughts, and behaviors effectively in different situations and to achieve goals and aspirations. This includes the capacities to delay gratification, manage stress, and feel motivation and agency to accomplish personal and collective goals.

Such as:

Managing one's emotions

Identifying and using stress management strategies

Exhibiting self-discipline and self-motivation

Setting personal and collective goals

Using planning and organizational skills

Showing the courage to take initiative

Demonstrating personal and collective agency

Check out this video from PBS Learning Media for more information.

Social Awareness

Social awareness: The abilities to understand the perspectives of and empathize with others, including those from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and contexts. This includes the capacities to feel compassion for others, understand broader historical and social norms for behavior in different settings, and recognize family, school, and community resources and supports.

Such as:

Taking others' perspectives

Recognizing strengths in others

Demonstrating empathy and compassion

Showing concern for the feelings of others

Understanding and expressing gratitude

Identifying diverse social norms, including unjust ones

Recognizing situational demands and opportunities

Understanding the influences of organizations and systems on behavior

Check out this video from PBS Learning Media for more information.

Responsible Decision-Making

Responsible decision-making: The abilities to make caring and constructive choices about personal behavior and social interactions across diverse situations. This includes the capacities to consider ethical standards and safety concerns, and to evaluate the benefits and consequences of various actions for personal, social, and collective well-being.

Such as:

Demonstrating curiosity and open-mindedness

Learning how to make a reasoned judgment after analyzing information, data, and facts

Identifying solutions for personal and social problems

Anticipating and evaluating the consequences of one's actions

Recognizing how critical thinking skills are useful both inside and outside of school

Reflecting on one's role to promote personal, family, and community well-being

Evaluating personal, interpersonal, community, and institutional impacts

Check out this video from PBS Learning Media for more information.

Relationship Skills

Relationship skills: The abilities to establish and maintain healthy and supportive relationships and to effectively navigate settings with diverse individuals and groups. This includes the capacities to communicate clearly, listen actively, cooperate, work collaboratively to problem solve and negotiate conflict constructively, navigate settings with differing social and cultural demands and opportunities, provide leadership, and seek or offer help when needed.

Such as:

Communicating effectively

Developing positive relationships

Demonstrating cultural competency

Practicing teamwork and collaborative problem-solving

Resolving conflicts constructively

Resisting negative social pressure

Showing leadership in groups

Seeking or offering support and help when needed

Standing up for the rights of others

Check out this video from PBS Learning Media for more information.

Social & Emotional Learning

Social and emotional learning (SEL) is an integral part of education and human development. SEL is the process through which all young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions.

SEL advances educational equity and excellence through authentic school-family-community partnerships to establish learning environments and experiences that feature trusting and collaborative relationships, rigorous and meaningful curriculum and instruction, and ongoing evaluation. SEL can help address various forms of inequity and empower young people and adults to co-create thriving schools and contribute to safe, healthy, and just communities.

Back to top Back to top Back to top

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Our SEL framework, known to many as the "CASEL wheel," helps cultivate skills and environments that advance students' learning and development.

# data[].attributes.headline
10 What Questions to Develop a Growth Mindset

# data[].attributes.subject
10 What Questions to Develop a Growth Mindset

# data[].attributes.headline
Kansas College & Career Competency Framework

# data[].attributes.subject
Kansas College & Career Competency Framework

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
College & Career Competencies FrameworkResources

# data[].attributes.headline
Integrity-in-Action Checklist - Middle School

# data[].attributes.subject
Integrity-in-Action Checklist - Middle School

# data[].attributes.headline
Integrity-in-Action Checklist - High School

# data[].attributes.subject
Integrity-in-Action Checklist - High School