EdResearch for Recovery - Brief 13 - Evidence-Based Practices for Assessing Students’ Social and Emotional Well-Being

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Jacob

Evidence-based practices for assessing students’ social and emotional well-being across the year in response to the novel coronavirus pandemic. The brief explains why disruptions to mental health, social support systems, and learning environments require new assessment focus, and how schools can still draw on pre-pandemic measures. It compares strategies to consider versus avoid when designing student surveys, including equity and privacy considerations, and emphasizes well-being assessments as part of broader student-support systems.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages7

Reading Time18 min

AccessFree to download

Central Question

Key Insights: Breaking Down the Issue

Disruptions and the need for assessment

Building on pre-pandemic validated measures

Strategies to Consider and Avoid

Survey design, interpretation, and equity

EdResearch For Recovery February 2021 EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICES FOR ASSESSING STUDENTS’SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING Heather Hough & Joe Witte | Policy Analysis for California Education at Stanford University Caroline Wang | Education Analytics Dave Calhoun | CORE Districts Brief No. 13 This brief is one in a series aimed at providing K-12 education decision makers and advocates with an evidence base to ground discussions about how to best serve students during and following the novel coronavirus pandemic. Click here to learn more about the EdResearch for Recovery Project and view the set of COVID-19 response-andrecovery topic areas and practitioner-generated questions. ~~ ~~CENTRAL~~ ~~QUESTION~~ ~~ How can schools and districts monitor students’ social and emotional well-being across the year? KEY INSIGHTS Breaking Down the Issue Disruptions to students’mental and emotional health, social systems of support, and learning environments require a new focus on social and emotional well-being. Although the need to assess students’ social and emotional well-being in a virtual environment is new, we can still draw from assessments that were developed and validated prior to the pandemic. Strategies to Consider Strategies to Avoid A comprehensive system for Some survey questions monitoring student well-being can have the unintended should help educators support effect of re-traumatizing, students in schools and stigmatizing, or classrooms and allow for tiered marginalizing students. referrals for special services. Many Schools and districts are validated instruments on social and encouraged to use the emotional well-being, learning resources that appear conditions, and other non- below, but those who wish academic measures are available to design their own to schools and districts at no surveys should be mindful financial cost. of equity concerns. Well-being assessments are only Surveys often run into effective as part of a larger strategy design pitfalls that make for supporting students. results impossible to Student surveys are an important interpret. Leveraging tool for understanding things that existing validated surveys cannot be observed, such as can help avoid these student mindsets and issues. circumstances, and can supplement screeners and monitoring strategies. However, surveys should be concise and efficient. Privacy concerns can be taken seriously without compromising the usefulness of well-being assessments. EdResearch for Recovery-February 2021 1 EdResearch For Recovery ~~ ~~BREAKING~~ ~~DOWN~~ ~~THE~~ ~~ISSUE~~ ~~ Disruptions to students’ mental and emotional health, social systems of support, and learning environments require a new focus on social and emotional well-being. Assessing students’ “readiness to learn,” should include a broad view of social and emotional wellbeing. The pandemic has introduced a great deal of hardship into many students’ lives, which may make it difficult for them to learn. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs provides a framework for thinking about how students’ basic needs such as mental health, social systems of support, and a safe and functional learning environment are necessary preconditions for higher-level learning. Even before the pandemic, researchers, policymakers, and educators alike had begun to embrace these more holistic factors in school programming, arguing for whole-child education, attention to noncognitive factors, programming to support student social-emotional learning, stronger supports for student mental health, and a focus on improving school climate so that students feel safe, supported, and connected. Greater numbers of students are experiencing anxiety, depression, and, for students with disabilities, developmental regression since the start of the pandemic. The pandemic has disrupted students’ lives in numerous ways, and with schools closed and community events cancelled, students can feel isol

FAQs

What central question does this brief address?

How can schools and districts monitor students’ social and emotional well-being across the year?

Why does the brief argue that schools need a new focus on social and emotional well-being?

Disruptions to students’ mental and emotional health, social support systems, and learning environments require attention to social and emotional well-being.

What concerns does the brief highlight when using student surveys?

Surveys should be mindful of potential re-traumatizing effects, interpretation limits, equity concerns, and privacy risks—without undermining the usefulness of well-being assessments.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Jacob