Development and preliminary validation of the social-emotional assets and resiliency scale for preschool

Assessment of social and emotional learning (SEL) in young children is critical to understanding developmental progress and informing care and instruction. The current study investigated the development of a behavior rating scale designed to measure SEL skills in preschool-age children. The primary objective of this study was to investigate the development of a new strength-based assessment prototype, the Social-Emotional Assets and Resiliency Scale for Preschool (SEARS-Pre). Items for the SEARS-Pre were developed based on a review of literature and existing measures and evaluated by a content validation panel of ten experts in the field. Following the content validation and revision process, local preschools were recruited to pilot the final SEARS-Pre measure. Eighteen instructors from three preschool programs in Oregon participated and completed a total of 94 SEARS-Pre rating forms for students in their classrooms. Results from an exploratory factor analysis suggested three factors: Self-regulation/Social competence; 2) Emotion knowledge/Expression; and 3) Empathy/Responsibility. The scale demonstrated strong internal consistency, with alpha values of .95 for Factor 1 (Self-Regulation/Social Competence), .92 for Factor 2 (Emotion Knowledge/Expression), .90 for Factor 3 (Empathy/Responsibility), and .97 for the total score (all three factors).