Overview
Pilot Overview: Developing a Broader Definition of Student and School Success
Our district and seven other California school districts are collaborating to develop a more holistic
definition of student and school success. We believe that student success goes beyond academic test
scores to include other factors that matter in college, career, and life. To that end, we are exploring ways
to incorporate measures of student social-emotional competencies and school climate/culture into our
new school accountability system.
Ours is one of about 20 schools that are participating in a pilot to help determine how to effectively
measure social-emotional competencies. As part of this pilot, we will administer survey-based measures
of student social-emotional competencies and provide feedback on how valid, feasible, and useful these
measures prove to be for our school. The pilot is an opportunity for schools to provide input on these
measures and receive actionable data that can help us support students more effectively.
Goals of the Pilot Project
The initial pilot project will build on existing knowledge to answer several key questions:
What We Know
 Success in school and in life depends on more than academic ability alone.
 Research has shown that specific social-emotional competencies—such as growth mindset, self-efficacy,
self-management, and social awareness—are linked to performance in school (i.e., to academic and
behavioral outcomes) as well as long-term success in life (i.e., health, well-being, and financial
outcomes).
What We Hope to Learn
 Can we assess student social-emotional competencies quickly and reliably through student selfreporting and teacher report surveys?
 How does each social-emotional competency that we are exploring relate to specific student outcomes
such as grades and test scores?
 Is the information collected from these surveys helpful to educators (e.g., does it help teachers provide
differentiated supports to students)?
What to Expect as a School Participating in the Pilot
In Each Participating School
As a participating school, we will be testing out a set of preliminary surveys about student social-emotional
competencies. Our school will designate a time this spring for students and teachers to complete the surveys.
Students will complete a one-period self-reflection survey.
o Student surveys will be completed on paper. In order to keep the results confidential, we will use
perforated survey forms. The top of each survey form will show the student’s name so that
teachers can easily distribute the correct form to each student. Students will tear off this top
portion once they receive their surveys.
Teachers will complete a one-hour survey about student behavior.
o Teacher surveys will be completed online. Each teacher will receive a secure link enabling him/her
to complete the one-hour survey at any point during the designated two-week window.
o Teachers will be asked to assess students’ behavior with respect to four specific social-emotional
competencies. (See competency descriptions below.)
© 2014 Transforming Education
In Each Participating
School
Students’ and teachers’ individual survey results will be strictly confidential.
o The survey results and your feedback will be used to improve the surveys for future years. Survey
responses will have no bearing on student grades or teacher evaluations.
Schools will receive school- and grade-level reports of the survey results in the fall.
o These reports will highlight key findings of the surveys, including the relationship between student
social-emotional competencies and other indicators of student success (e.g. test scores, overall
grades, effort grades, attendance, etc.)
o We will have an opportunity to discuss these reports and share suggestions about the types of
information and supports that would help our school use this data effectively.
Social-Emotional Competencies
The eight districts collaborating on this effort have prioritized following four social-emotional competencies for
exploration:
 Growth Mindset: The belief that you can grow your talents with effort. Students with a growth mindset
see effort as necessary for success, embrace challenges, learn from criticism, and persist in the face of
setbacks.
 Self-Efficacy: The belief that you can succeed in achieving an outcome or reaching a goal. Self-efficacy
reflects confidence in your own ability to control or manage your motivation, behavior, and
environment.
 Self-Management: The ability to effectively manage your emotions, thoughts, and behaviors in different
situations. This includes managing stress, delaying gratification, motivating yourself, and setting and
working toward personal and academic goals.
 Social Awareness: The ability to take the perspective of and empathize with others from diverse
backgrounds and cultures, to understand social and ethical norms for behavior, and to recognize family,
school, and community resources and supports.
How Can I Learn More?
CORE is a non-profit organization that seeks to improve student achievement by fostering highly productive,
meaningful collaboration and learning among its member districts. The member districts engaged in this effort
to develop a more holistic definition of student success include Fresno, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Oakland,
Sacramento City, San Francisco, Sanger, and Santa Ana unified school districts. To learn more about this effort
and related collaborations among California school districts, visit coredistricts.org/school-quality-improvementsystem.
Transforming Education is a non-profit that helps districts develop policies and practices that support student
social-emotional development. For more information about Transforming Education, please contact
team@transformingeducation.org.
© 2014 Transforming Education