Work

The Winston Essential Skills Survey: A Comprehensive Social-Emotional Assessment for Students With Learning Disabilities

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: The Winston Essential Skills Survey (WESS) 3.0, the first social-emotional learning (SEL) assessment designed for students with learning disabilities (SwLD), has evidence for reliability and validity in a specific population of teachers. To build on this evidence, 180 educators responded to the WESS 3.0, along with new items and the Devereux Student Strengths Assessment (DESSA), to assess a sample of 397 SwLD. Minor modifications to the WESS 3.0 resulted in the WESS 4.0, which demonstrated internal consistency, an eight-factor structure, and convergent validity with the DESSA. The WESS 4.0 addresses a critical gap in SEL assessments for SwLD, providing researchers and educators with a valid and reliable method to assess SwLD's social-emotional skills. This survey may inform school interventions, policy decisions on SEL programming, and advance understanding of SEL in SwLD, potentially improving educational outcomes and well-being for this population.

Source: Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment

DOI: 10.1177/07342829251386972

Authors: Amber DeBono, Diya Taylor, Michele Heimbauer, Elizabeth Mendelsohn, Jonathan Cohen

Language: English

Topic: Early Childhood Education and Development

Subfield: Education

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Quality education

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,650

Funder: Learning Disabilities Foundation