Northern Illinois University
Department of Psychology
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Customized School-Wide Evaluation

Assessing the social emotional and academic health of all students in a school is a crucial piece of the Response to Intervention or Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) approach. Within the MTSS framework, the most important tier to consider is Tier 1 or universal practices in schools. Are the social-emotional and behavioral practices in place for all students effective? Are the curriculum, materials, and instruction we are using effective for most students? In addition, assessing school-wide can serve as a universal screening to identify students who may be at risk for learning and social-emotional difficulties.

Conducting a comprehensive school-wide evaluation is a daunting task, but Northern Illinois University's School Psychology Program is here to help. We are launching new complimentary services to help educators by conducting customized school-wide evaluations. Each evaluation can be made specific to the needs of each school, and a comprehensive summary of results will be provided following the assessment. Please see below for some reasons why school-wide evaluations are important for each school, what types of information will be provided in the evaluation, and examples of past reports. 

Why do a School-Wide Assessment?

• Give schools a comprehensive picture of overall health and functioning of students
• Help educators make informed decisions and improve student academic functioning and social-emotional well-being
• Assess student peer relationships and social-emotional adjustment to inform decision making in the school and develop intervention plans.
• Help school personnel identify students who are at-risk of social-emotional and academic difficulties
• Provides baseline data to evaluate intervention programs in areas such as bullying, social-emotional functioning, and curriculum and instruction

Evaluations will include various measures to assess the following

High School Assessment

• Social Support
• Social-Emotional Assessment
• Social Skills
  • High school assessment is expected to take approximately 30 minutes to complete.

Middle School Assessment

• Social Support
• Social-emotional Assessment (Anxiety, self-perceptions, solitude, sociability, etc.)
• Bullying and Victimization
• Homophobic language useage
• Student  engagement
• Emotion regulation
  
  • Middle school assessment should take between one and 1.5 hours to complete.

*Other information can be obtained as part of the evaluation at the request of the specific school

Some questions that could be answered

• How well is your social-emotional curriculum working for your students?
• Do your students feel that they are receiving support from their teachers and classmates? How much social support do they perceive from various sources in their lives, including parents, teachers and classmates? 
• Are your current intervention programs working for your students? What other evidence-based intervention programs match the specific needs of your students? 
• What are the frequency and prevalence of peer aggression and bullying in your school?
• Who do students go to for support when they are victims of bullying?
• How is bullying related to academic achievement? Social Support? Social and emotional adjustment? Anxiety and Depression?
• Are victims of bullying more susceptible to negative emotional outcomes than their non-victimized peers?
• What are the unique effects of cyber-victimization and traditional victimization on depression and anxiety?
• Can social support serve as a buffer in the relationship between traditional and cyber victimization and internalizing distress? 

Please check the links at the top right to view some examples of pieces of past evaluations. Dependent on tools selected, evaluation reports have ranged from 10 to 60 pages long with detailed results and recommendations. Please contact Professor Christine Malecki at cmalecki@niu.edu or Professor Michelle Demarary at mkdemaray@niu.edu for more details.