HOW TO ASSESS SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING OF PRESCHOOL CHILDREN THROUGH DIFFERENT DECISION MAKING METHODS

Abstract

Social and emotional development is an important area for children, which includes social-emotional learning skills. It is necessary to know that the development and clarification processes of social-emotional learning require an efficacious assessment process. This study aims to reveal how social emotional learning methods of preschool children are assessed through different decision-making methods. For this purpose, the assessment methods of social-emotional learning skills explained as intervention decisions, progress-monitoring decisions, and intervention outcome decisions were reviewed. In the context of intervention decisions; functional behavior assessment, archival records behavioral rating scales/checklists, and direct observations were used to assess social emotional learning skills of children. In the context of progress-monitoring decisions, systematic direct observations, direct behavior ratings, brief behavior ratings, and office discipline referrals were used for the assessment of social emotional learning skills of children. Additionally, it was possible to use intervention outcome decisions so as to assess social-emotional learning skills of children. The results of the review showed that assessment process of social-emotional learning requires specific practices and strategies to evaluate social-emotional learning skills of children effectively. Based on the results, it is recommended that researchers and practitioners should have the necessary knowledge regarding the assessment process, and incorporate the assessment instruments that serve for the purpose into the process. It should be noted that these tools must be valid and reliable assessment tools. Article visualizations: