Development and validation of ?EduSEL?: Educators' Socio-Emotional Learning questionnaire

A significant body of evidence supports the importance of Socio-Emotional Learning (SEL) in education, showing that well-developed educators' SEL competencies are necessary in order to foster SEL among students. However, most SEL assessment tools focus on students' SEL. In an attempt to bridge this gap, the current research sought to develop a multidimensional self-report instrument to assess educators' SEL competencies. Study 1 incorporated two independent focus groups to explore SEL competencies that educators apply in complex interpersonal situations, in order to compose the EduSEL (Educators' Social-Emotional Learning questionnaire). Study 2 focused on preliminary validation of the EduSEL pilot version, based on 154 educators. Study 3 established the latent structure of the EduSEL based on 331 educators. In Study 4, the criterion validity of the instrument was demonstrated in three different samples of 97 educators overall. CFA provided a good model fit to the data. Internal and test-retest reliability indices were high. Internal correlations indicated a similarity between the social and emotional subscales, whereas the cognitive subscale was more distinct. External consistency values indicated a good congruence between evaluators. Taken together, the EduSEL psychometric properties were found to be acceptable, and suggest a reliable and valid measurement of educators' SEL competencies.