Life Skills Assessment Scale

The After School Life Skills program of the organization Dream A Dream uses sports and arts to develop critical life skills. The Life Skills Assessment Scale measures:
- Interaction with others
- Overcoming difficulties and solving problems
- Taking initiative
- Managing conflict
- Understanding and following instructions

Constructs Being Measured
Primary: 
Collaboration
Secondary: 
Agency
How to Access and Cite

Contact the Teach For All TACL team for more information on this resource.

As the LSAS is scored by observer rating and has only five items, it is a very simple and practical assessment tool for use with disadvantaged children who are participating in life skills development program activities. If desired, an explanatory session can be held or role-play scenarios acted out with new raters so that any questions about its administration can be raised.

 

Outcome Families
Well-being
Connectedness
Awareness
Agency
Mastery
Programmatic Purpose
Classroom-level data and feedback
Program-level monitoring and evaluation
Instrument Characteristics
Type of items: 

5-point likert scale items which the teacher scores for each individual student

Original target population: 

Secondary school students

Applicable Grade Levels
Pre-primary
Primary
Secondary
Post-secondary
Supporting Research

Kennedy, F, Pearson, D, Brett-Taylor, L, and Talreja, V. (2014) "The Life Skills Assessment Scale: Measuring Life Skills of Disadvantaged Children in the Developing World" Social Behavior and Personality, 42(2), 197-210.

Rationale

A tool designed to track progress against outcomes for kids in adverse conditions. The tool asks teachers to rate students on their interaction with others (connectedness) and their ability to overcome challenges and take initiative (awareness). Other constructs focus on obedience and respect of authority, which may conflict with priority outcomes in TACL.

Points to Consider

For more guidance on measuring student learning and best practices in adapting measurement tools to your contexts, check out the Portal page on Monitoring and Evaluation. You can also contact Alvin Vista (Knowledge Lead, Student Outcomes) and Robbie Dean (Director of Research) for specific questions.