Innovative tools for the direct assessment of social and emotional skills
Social and emotional skills (SES) are important for various life outcomes, such as
academic achievement, mental health, job performance or civic engagement. The assessment
of these skills in children and adolescents, however, currently relies heavily on
the use of self-reported questionnaires. As such, there is an urgent need for more
direct measurement approaches of SES, which look at behaviours, actions and choices,
in order to diversify the current portfolio of available assessments. The aim of this
working paper is, thus, to map and review innovative assessment tools as well as technological
approaches, aimed at the direct assessment of SES. Firstly, the paper documents almost
60 different behavioural tools, namely tasks and digital games. These instruments
are reviewed according to a set of criteria, including their reliability, construct
and ecological validity, and feasibility. Secondly, the paper identifies technological
approaches, such as biophysiological measures, virtual reality or different artificial
intelligence applications. Many of these technologies have the potential of being
transversally integrated into different tasks and game, enriching the quality of SES
assessment, albeit bringing new challenges. Lastly, the paper promotes a dialogue
between the different types of innovative assessments, identifying comparative strengths
and challenges.
Published on June 03, 2024
In series:OECD Education Working Papersview more titles