Teachers' perspectives on strength-based and deficit-based instruments for assessing socioemotional development in early childhood

This study compares teachers' perspectives on three assessment instruments for socioemotional development in early childhood, which differ in their emphasis on strengths and difficulties in this domain: the Caregiver-Teacher Report Form (C-TRF), the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, Teacher version (SDQ-T), and the Social Emotional Assessment Measure (SEAM). We examine the teachers' views on the clarity, relevance, and acceptability, as well as estimating average completion times, of the three questionnaires in the context of Danish childcare. Overall, the SEAM was rated better able to convey the child's strengths, was more acceptable by teachers than the C-TRF and SDQ-T, and provided a better basis for talking with parents. Given its content and acceptability, we conclude this strength-based measure strongly merits inclusion in child assessment of socioemotional development.