Using the Social-Emotional Assessment/Evaluation Measure (SEAM™) with Young Children

Jane Squires, Ph.D.
Misti Waddell, M.S.
Follow @BrookesPubCo on Twitter

 Social-Emotional
Assessment/Evaluation
Measure
 Programmatic tool for use
with children and their
adults/caregivers to foster
positive social-emotional
development
 Curriculum-based
assessment

“Systematic approaches
to teaching social-
emotional skills can
have a preventive and
remedial effect.”

 Assists practitioners in
• prevention and early identification of
social-emotional difficulties and
behavior disorders
• development of
functional, meaningful, measurable, high-quality goals
and intervention content for children and caregivers
• optimizing positive parent-child interactions in the first
years of life.

ASQ:SE™
Screening
SEAM
Evaluation
SEAM
Goal
Development
SEAM
Intervention
SEAM
Assessment

 SEAM
 SEAM with Ages
 SEAM Family Profile
 Environmental Screening
Questionnaire (ESQ)

 3 Developmental Intervals:
• Infant (2-18 months)
• Toddler (18-36 months)
• Preschool (36-66 months)
 10 Benchmarks included in each interval
• 3 - 8 items per benchmark
 Completed by caregiver or by professional through
interview with caregiver

Using the Social-Emotional Assessment/Evaluation Measure (SEAM™) with Young Children

1. Demonstrates healthy interactions with others
2. Expresses a range of emotions
3. Regulates social-emotional responses
4. Shows empathy for others
5. Shares attention and engagement
6. Demonstrates independence
7. Displays a positive self-image
8. Regulates attention and activity level
9. Complies with daily routines & requests
10. Shows a range of adaptive skills

 Allow caregiver to:
• rate child’s performance on developmental items
• indicate whether item is a concern
• select item as a focus area (i.e., intervention goal)

Benchmarks
1.0 Toddler participates in healthy interactions.
(4)
2.0 Toddler expresses a range of emotions. (4)
3.0 Toddler regulates her social-emotional
responses. (3)
4.0 Toddler begins to show empathy for others.
(3)
5.0 Toddler shares attention and engages with
others. (5)

1. Prepare with the caregiver for the SEAM
assessment process
2. Complete the SEAM
assessment
3. Review results

 Identify administration procedure that meets
family preferences and program requirements.
 Possible administration methods include:
• Home visit
• Parent/child group
• Send home with family
• Parent/teacher conference
 Explain assessment purpose and procedures
(see following slides)

The SEAM
 is a tool that provides a way to take a close look at a
child’s social-emotional development.
 focuses on skills children need to learn in order to get
along well with others, regulate their own emotions and
behaviors, and develop a positive self image.
 Helps to identify and
support your child’s
social-emotional
development

 Read each item, consider the examples, and think
about your child’s behavior before selecting an answer.
 For some items, you may want to observe your child
before selecting your response.
 Remember, examples are there just to give you ideas
about how the behavior might look. Your child may
display the skills in a slightly different way.
Explaining SEAM procedures to
caregivers

Response Options:
 There are four options for rating your child’s behavior:
• Very True (Consistently or most of the time)
• Somewhat True (Sometimes, though not consistently)
• Rarely True (Only once in a while)
• Not True (Doesn’t yet show skill)
 Answer based on your personal experiences and what you know
about your child.
 There is also a place for you to indicate if any particular item is a
concern for you or if you would like it to become a focus area or
intervention goal.

 The SEAM and SEAM
Family Profile can be
completed by caregiver
 Interview format is
recommended
 Include family members
/ friends if desired
 Tailor caregiver
participation to match
individual needs and
desires
 Explain SEAM
interval’s
developmental range
and omit questions
developmentally
irrelevant or culturally
inappropriate

 Review information with the parent/caregiver
 Explore differences between
teacher and parent perceptions
 Discuss concerns
 Identify possible resources
and strategies
 Administer SEAM Family Profile

Using the SEAM results:
1. Summarize Andrew’s strengths
2. Identify two possible intervention goals
using the SEAM

 Andrew’s Strengths
• Andrew is curious and active and enjoys playing.
• Andrew is affectionate and talks and plays with
others.
• Andrew is a happy child; he smiles and laughs.
• Andrew likes attention from his family and
engages in activities with them
• Andrew seems to feel good about himself and his
accomplishments
• Andrew looks at books and listens to stories that
are read to him
• Andrew eats a variety of foods
• Andrew cooperates with requests

 Intervention goals identified from caregiver-selected
SEAM Toddler focus areas:
 After getting upset or engaging in exciting activity, Andrew will learn to calm
himself within 5 to 10 minutes.
 While at the childcare center, Andrew will make a smooth transition between
activities (e.g. going from to outdoor play to circle time).
 After a bedtime story and good-night hug and kiss from his mother and/or
father, Andrew will learn to fall asleep and remain asleep throughout the night.
 Each morning when his mother drops Andrew at the childcare center, Andrew
will separate with minimal upset after she gives him a hug and says good-bye

 Assessment items address
adult knowledge and
behaviors that foster
social-emotional
development in children
 Assessment identifies areas where caregivers /
parents need support and resources in order to
provide a safe and responsive environment for
their children.

 Uses caregiver-friendly
language
 Allows caregivers to:
• rate their understanding of,
and ability to foster their
child’s development in,
several developmental areas
• indicate whether they need
more information about an
assessment item
• select assessment items that
are “focus areas” or areas of
concern

Benchmarks
1.0 Responding to my child’s needs.
2.0 Providing appropriate type and level of
activities.
3.0 Providing predictable schedules/routines.
4.0 Providing a safe home and play environment.

 Check the “Not sure/need more info” box if the caregiver
needs resources or more information from a professional.
 Check the “Focus Area” triangle next to an item if the
caregiver(s) would like to target the content addressed in
the item.
 Consider cultural appropriateness of each item and omit
items that caregivers may find intrusive, disrespectful, or
inappropriate.
 Follow-up with the Environmental Screening
Questionnaire (ESQ) if needed.

• To develop family outcomes
• To gather new information

Infant
SEAM
Toddler
SEAM
Pearson
Correlation
N
.987**
43
.968**
42
** p < .01, two-tailed.

Correlation
Infant
Classroom
Toddler
Classroom
N=12
Group #1
N=7
Group #2
N=7
Group #3
N=8
Pearson .776** .668 .948** .640
Intraclass .564* .657* .932** .324
· p < .05. ** p < .01. Note: Pearson correlations are two-tailed;
Intraclass Correlations used a two-way random effects model with
a consistency definition.

SEAM
Interval
DECA
2-12 months
ITSEA
12-36 months
ASQ:SE
3-36 months
Total score Compliance Negative
Emotion
Pro-social Total score
Infant .754** .628** -.415* .651** -.557**
N 13 27 26 24 860
Toddler NA .564** -.261** .652** -.516**
N 119 120 120 162
* p < .05, Pearson two-tailed. ** p < .01, Pearson two-tailed.

Age in months N M r
SEAM for infants 235 .35**
0-6 49 84.32
7-12 153 93.49
13-18 33 97.61
SEAM for toddlers 56 .39**
19-24 20 82.39
25-30 19 86.83
31-36 17 92.59

 N = 339
 Average time to complete: 9.38 minutes
 Parents agreed or strongly agreed with
statements:
• Questions were appropriate: 92.6%
• Questions were useful: 95.3%
• Items were clear: 90.6%
• Alerted to skills caregiver was unsure about:
59.2%

From Parents:
• “The SEAM allowed me
to put my thoughts out
there.”
• “(Our conversation) felt non-judgmental because of
the tool.”
• “If there is a concern it can be a helpful way to bring a
parent on board.”

From Providers:
• “I liked having a tool to build from…”
• “The SEAM helped me explain what to expect.”
• “It felt more like a discovery tool than judgment.”
• “Using the SEAM took out the emotions and allowed
us to be objective—it brings the parent up to the
‘expert’ level.”
• “The SEAM makes it easier for the professional to ask
the right questions.”

SEAM™
 Items are all competence skills (i.e., skills we want
children to learn or develop)
 Non-judgmental assessment (i.e., does not “identify”
children)
 Can promote conversations with parents focused on
social-emotional development
 Can be used to develop goals and monitor progress
 Includes Family Profile that allows parents/caregivers to
identify areas of strength as well as areas of needed
support

To order:
www.brookespublishing.com
1-800-638-3775
Check out our other social-
emotional development products
http://products.brookespublishi
ng.com/Social-Emotional-
Development-C1033.aspx

Follow @BrookesPubCo on Twitter

Using the Social-Emotional Assessment/Evaluation Measure (SEAM™) with Young Children

More Related Content

Similar to Using the Social-Emotional Assessment/Evaluation Measure (SEAM™) with Young Children (20)

More from Brookes Publishing (20)

Recently uploaded (20)

Using the Social-Emotional Assessment/Evaluation Measure (SEAM™) with Young Children

Editor's Notes