| Goods |
Advancing the Measurement of Non-Cognitive Skills in Schools
Principal Investigator: James Heckman | The University of Chicago | Department of Economics
Co-Principal Investigator: Tim Kautz | Mathematica Policy Research
Summary
Governments typically rely on achievement tests to evaluate schools, school districts, and even teachers. Nevertheless, a growing body of evidence shows cognitive assessments like achievement tests do not capture non-cognitive (socio-emotional) skills that are important predictors of life outcomes and can be improved through education. At the same time, there is no agreement on the best way to measure non-cognitive skills, and some believe they cannot be reliably measured. James J. Heckman and Tim Kautz will conduct pilot and planning studies to explore how best to measure non-cognitive skills. They will evaluate measurement approaches that could be used in schools, including personality questionnaires administered directly to individuals and school administrative data. In the pilot study, they will collect data from Chicago Public Schools students to compare various measurement approaches and estimate the extent to which different measures predict later outcomes. They will examine the relationship between survey-based measures and measures that can be crafted from administrative data, potentially a low-cost, reliable way for schools to measure non-cognitive skills. The pilot study will also investigate how context influences subjective assessments. A planning study will follow to assess the feasibility of a larger-scale assessment. |