Return to References: Social Awareness & Relationship Skills factor page.
Numerous measures exist to gain a full picture of a student's learning strengths and challenges. Following are examples of measures used to assess this Learner Factor. These measures should be administered and interpreted by experienced professionals.
DESSA Devereux Student Strengths Assessment: (LeBuffe, et al., 2018): Rating scale for parents or teachers to evaluate social-emotional competencies including Social Awareness & Relationship Skills for students in kindergarten to eighth grade. It also contains a screening tool, the DESSA-mini, to identify students who may require further more extensive evaluation.
Aïte, A., Berthoz, A., Vidal, J., Roell, M., Zaoui, M., Houde, O., & Borst, G. (2016). Taking a third-person perspective requires inhibitory control: Evidence from a developmental negative priming study. Child Development, 87(6), 1825-1840.
Bagwell, C. L., Molina, B. S., Pelham Jr, W. E., & Hoza, B. (2001). Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and problems in peer relations: Predictions from childhood to adolescence. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 40(11), 1285-1292.
Barrett, M. (2018). How schools can promote the intercultural competence of young people. European Psychologist, 23(1), 93-104.
Bédard, K., Bouffard, T., & Pansu, P. (2014). The risks for adolescents of negatively biased self-evaluations of social competence: The mediating role of social support. Journal of Adolescence, 37(6), 787-798.
Byrd, C. M., & Legette, K. B. (2022). School ethnic–racial socialization and adolescent ethnic–racial identity. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 28(2), 205.
Carhill–Poza, A. (2015). Opportunities and outcomes: The role of peers in developing the oral academic English proficiency of adolescent English learners. The Modern Language Journal, 99(4), 678-695.
Collaborative for the Advancement of Social and Emotional Learning. (2003). Safe and sound: An educational leader's guide to evidence-based social and emotional learning (SEL) programs. ERIC Clearinghouse.
Cook, C. R., Williams, K. R., Guerra, N. G., Kim, T. E., & Sadek, S. (2010). Predictors of bullying and victimization in childhood and adolescence: A meta-analytic investigation. School Psychology Quarterly, 25(2), 65.
dos Santos Kawata, K. H., Ueno, Y., Hashimoto, R., Yoshino, S., Ohta, K., Nishida, A., ... & Koike, S. (2021). Development of metacognition in adolescence: the congruency-based metacognition scale. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 565231.
Duchesneau, N. (2020). Social, Emotional, and Academic Development through an Equity Lens. Education Trust.
Dunn, W., Little, L., Dean, E., Robertson, S., & Evans, B. (2016). The state of the science on sensory factors and their impact on daily life for children: A scoping review. OTJR: Occupation, Participation and Health, 36(2_suppl), 3S-26S.
Engels, R. C., Deković, M., & Meeus, W. (2002). Parenting practices, social skills and peer relationships in adolescence. Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal, 30(1), 3-17.
Gopnik, A., O'Grady, S., Lucas, C. G., Griffiths, T. L., Wente, A., Bridgers, S., Aboody, R., Fung, H., & Dahl, R. E. (2017). Changes in cognitive flexibility and hypothesis search across human life history from childhood to adolescence to adulthood. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114(30), 7892-7899.
Gueldner, B. A., Feuerborn, L. L., Merrell, K. W., Castro-Olivo, S., d'Abreu, A., Furrer, J., & Widales-Benitez, O. (2020). One size does not fit all: Adapting social and emotional learning in our multicultural world. Social and Emotional Learning in the Classroom, Second Edition: Promoting Mental Health and Academic Success. Guilford Press.
Gustavsen, A. M. (2017). Longitudinal relationship between social skills and academic achievement in a gender perspective. Cogent Education, 4(1), 1411035.
Johnson, D. W., & Johnson, R. T. (2004). The three Cs of promoting social and emotional learning. Building Academic Success on Social and Emotional learning: What does the research say, 40-58.
Koutamanis, M., Vossen, H. G., Peter, J., & Valkenburg, P. M. (2013). Practice makes perfect: The longitudinal effect of adolescents' instant messaging on their ability to initiate offline friendships. Computers in Human Behavior, 29(6), 2265-2272.
LeBuffe, P. A., Naglieri, J. A., & Shapiro, V. B. (2011). The Devereux student strengths assessment-second step edition (DESSA-SSE).
Li, J. (2009). Forging the future between two different worlds: Recent Chinese immigrant adolescents tell their cross-cultural experiences. Journal of Adolescent Research, 24(4), 477-504.
McKown, C., Gumbiner, L. M., Russo, N. M., & Lipton, M. (2009). Social-emotional learning skill, self-regulation, and social competence in typically developing and clinic-referred children. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 38(6), 858-871.
Moses, J. O., & Villodas, M. T. (2017). The potential protective role of peer relationships on school engagement in at-risk adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 46, 2255-2272.
Nilsen, E. S., & Bacso, S. A. (2017). Cognitive and behavioural predictors of adolescents' communicative perspective-taking and social relationships. Journal of Adolescence, 56, 52-63.
Nowicki, E. A. (2003). A meta-analysis of the social competence of children with learning disabilities compared to classmates of low and average to high achievement. Learning Disability Quarterly, 26(3), 171-188.
Osterman, K. F. (2000). Students' need for belonging in the school community. Review of Educational Research, 70(3), 323-367.
Palmer, C. A., Powell, S. L., Deutchman, D. R., Tintzman, C., Poppler, A., & Oosterhoff, B. (2022). Sleepy and secluded: Sleep disturbances are associated with connectedness in early adolescent social networks. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 32(2), 756-768.
Pierce, H., Jones, M. S., & Holcombe, E. A. (2022). Early adverse childhood experiences and social skills among youth in fragile families. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 51(8), 1497-1510.
Rabiner, D. L., Godwin, J., & Dodge, K. A. (2016). Predicting academic achievement and attainment: The contribution of early academic skills, attention difficulties, and social competence. School Psychology Review, 45(2), 250-267.
Richardson, H., Saxe, R., & Bedny, M. (2023). Neural correlates of theory of mind reasoning in congenitally blind children. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 63, 101285.
Shaw, P., Eckstrand, K., Sharp, W., Blumenthal, J., Lerch, J. P., Greenstein, D. E. E. A., ... & Rapoport, J. L. (2007). Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder is characterized by a delay in cortical maturation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104(49), 19649-19654.
Su, J., Wu, Z., & Su, Y. (2018). Physical exercise predicts social competence and general well-being in Chinese children 10 to 15 years old: A preliminary study. Child Indicators Research, 11, 1935-1949.
Swords, L., Heary, C., & Hennessy, E. (2011). Factors associated with acceptance of peers with mental health problems in childhood and adolescence. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 52(9), 933-941.
Trentacosta, C. J., & Fine, S. E. (2010). Emotion knowledge, social competence, and behavior problems in childhood and adolescence: A meta‐analytic review. Social Development, 19(1), 1-29.
Uslu, F., & Gizir, S. (2017). School belonging of adolescents: The role of teacher-student relationships, peer relationships and family involvement. Educational Sciences-Theory & Practice, 17(1).
Valkenburg, P. M., & Peter, J. (2007). Preadolescents' and adolescents' online communication and their closeness to friends. Developmental Psychology, 43(2), 267.
Wentzel, K. R., Jablansky, S., & Scalise, N. R. (2018). Do friendships afford academic benefits? A meta-analytic study. Educational Psychology Review, 30, 1241-1267.
Wentzel, K. R., Jablansky, S., & Scalise, N. R. (2021). Peer social acceptance and academic achievement: A meta-analytic study. Journal of Educational Psychology, 113(1), 157.
Wentzel, K. R. (2014). Prosocial behavior and peer relations in adolescence. Prosocial development: A multidimensional approach, 178-200.
Wentzel, K. R. (2005). Peer relationships, motivation, and academic performance at school. Handbook of Competence and Motivation, 279-296.
Wentzel, K. R., Jablansky, S., & Scalise, N. R. (2021). Peer social acceptance and academic achievement: A meta-analytic study. Journal of Educational Psychology, 113(1), 157.
Williams, C. D., Byrd, C. M., Quintana, S. M., Anicama, C., Kiang, L., Umaña-Taylor, A. J., ... & Whitesell, N. (2020). A lifespan model of ethnic-racial identity. Research in Human Development, 17(2-3), 99-129.
Zeman, J., Cassano, M., Perry-Parrish, C., & Stegall, S. (2006). Emotion regulation in children and adolescents. Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, 27(2), 155-168.
Zsolnai, A. (2002). Relationship between children's social competence, learning motivation and school achievement. Educational Psychology, 22(3), 317-329.