International Social and Emotional Learning Assessment: Short form administration guidance

The International Social and Emotional learning Assessment (ISELA) helps us understand the development of self-concept, stress management, perseverance, empathy, and conflict resolution in children between 6-12 years, and whether this development differs by key equity and socio-ecological factors: age, gender, socioeconomic status, displacement status, language-minority status, exposure to adversity, and interpersonal threats in the environment around the child. ISELA is designed to be cost-free, feasible, and adaptable for different cultural and social contexts. It does not rely heavily on Likert-type scales; instead, it uses vignettes and performance-based measures to understand the identified SEL skills in children. ISELA was not designed for diagnosing/screening children; rather, it was designed as a tool that could be used in programmatic and national monitoring and evaluation efforts.

Should I use the short or long form?
After testing ISELA from pilot data in Iraq (D’Sa a& Krupar, 2021), we adapted the long and short form of the tool based on confirmatory factor analysis results which confirmed that the below domains are uniquely measured in ISELA with specific contributing questions. The long form includes more detailed sections and can provide more detailed analyses specifically of Perseverance, the size of children’s support networks (Relationships), and Self-Concept. However, in crisis-affected contexts, the short form may be more appropriate to expedite data collection. Either form uses the same recommended analyses described below.