The Delaware Social-Emotional Competency Scale (DSECS-S): Evidence of Validity and Reliability

Lindsey S. Mantz (), George G. Bear, Chunyan Yang and Angela Harris
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Lindsey S. Mantz: University of Delaware
George G. Bear: University of Delaware
Chunyan Yang: University of California
Angela Harris: University of Delaware

Child Indicators Research, 2018, vol. 11, issue 1, No 7, 137-157

Abstract: Abstract The Delaware Social-Emotional Competency Scale (DSECS-S) was developed to provide schools with a brief, inexpensive, and psychometrically sound self-report scale to assess students’ social-emotional competencies. Confirmatory factor analyses, conducted on a sample of 32,414 students from 126 public elementary, middle, and high schools in Delaware, showed that a second-order model consisting of four specific factors and one general factor (social-emotional competence) best represented the data. Those four factors are represented in the four subscales of the DSECS-S: Responsible Decision Making, Relationship Skills, Self-Management, and Social Awareness. The scale’s factor structure was shown to be consistent across grade levels (i.e., elementary, middle, and high school), racial–ethnic groups (i.e., White, Black, Hispanic/Latino, Asian, and Multi-racial), and gender. As evidence of the scale’s criterion-related validity, the total social-emotional competency score correlated significantly and positively with students’ self-reported cognitive, behavioral, emotional, and total engagement. At the school level, social-emotional competence correlated positively with school-level academic achievement and negatively with suspensions/expulsions.

Keywords: Social-emotional competence; Social-emotional learning; CASEL; Program evaluation; Assessment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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DOI: 10.1007/s12187-016-9427-6

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