Evidence for the Technical Adequacy of the Teacher Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Beliefs Scale

Abstract

Implementation of social emotional learning (SEL) programs and practices is becoming increasingly prevalent in Pre K–12 educational settings. Research provides robust evidence to support positive outcomes associated with SEL implementation; however, we also know that implementation can be impacted by a variety of different individual and organizational factors. Teacher beliefs can influence how teachers implement SEL programming and represent an important area of study. The purpose of this study was to explore evidence for the technical adequacy of the Teacher SEL Beliefs Scale by examining the internal structure, internal consistency, and relations between subscale scores and teacher self-reported implementation fidelity of the Second Step SEL program. Confirmatory factor analysis of 103 teachers’ responses indicated that the three-factor solution found by prior authors, consisting of Comfort, Commitment, and Culture subscales, was also supported in the current sample. Moreover, ordinal logistic regression analyses suggested that the Comfort factor was significantly associated with how consistently teachers reported implementing the Second Step program. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.