Social Perspective Taking Acts Measure

Perspective taking and perspective coordination are measured through surveys at the beginning and end of each school year using an assessment called the Social Perspective Taking Acts Measure (SPTAM). The SPTAM is designed to assess children’s ability to acknowledge, articulate, position, and interpret the perspectives of multiple stakeholders in a given social conflict and to provide solutions that consider and integrate their different positions. The measure puts students in the shoes of an advisor, who needs to make a recommendation to address social conflicts that occur at the interpersonal, group, and institutional level.

sample item

Video: A Closer Look at the Assessment

Jennifer Winsor explains:

assessment administrator reads instructions, and also provides definitions for potentially unfamiliar words  •  students in this assessment are asked to evaluate and rank the reasons a person might give to support a claim  •  students are also asked to give advice to friends who are dealing with either an avoidable or unavoidable situation  •  students respond to open-ended questions, as well as a few multiple-choice questions.

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This site was originally prepared for districts and teachers who partnered with us throughout the project. While we have updated the text, many of the videos included on this site were prepared during the launch of the study. Although the project has come to a close, we are keeping the site and related videos available for those who are interested to learn more about the project.

The research reported here was supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant R305F100026 to the Strategic Education Research Partnership as part of the Reading for Understanding Research Initiative. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the Institute or the U.S. Department of Education.

CCDD TEAMStrategic Education Research Partnership •  1100 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 1310 •  Washington, DC 20036

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Social Perspective Taking Acts Measure

Perspective taking and perspective coordination are measured through surveys at the beginning and end of each school year using an assessment called the Social Perspective Taking Acts Measure (SPTAM). The SPTAM is designed to assess children’s ability to acknowledge, articulate, position, and interpret the perspectives of multiple stakeholders in a given social conflict and to provide solutions that consider and integrate their different positions. The measure puts students in the shoes of an advisor, who needs to make a recommendation to address social conflicts that occur at the interpersonal, group, and institutional level.

sample item

Video: A Closer Look at the Assessment

Jennifer Winsor explains:

assessment administrator reads instructions, and also provides definitions for potentially unfamiliar words  •  students in this assessment are asked to evaluate and rank the reasons a person might give to support a claim  •  students are also asked to give advice to friends who are dealing with either an avoidable or unavoidable situation  •  students respond to open-ended questions, as well as a few multiple-choice questions.

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Catalyzing Comprehension through Discussion and Debate (CCDD)