Building better SEL: A systematic approach to usability evaluation in school-based programming

Universal social-emotional learning (SEL) programs aim to promote well-being, with research demonstrating their effectiveness in improving social, emotional, behavioral, and academic outcomes at individual-, classroom-, and school-levels. However, SEL program implementation and sustainment outcomes vary greatly, affecting student- and school-level outcomes. Although research has begun to identify implementation barriers and facilitators at multiple levels, program-level factors are relatively understudied. One such program-level factor is usability – the extent to which a product can be used effectively by targeted users to achieve specified goals. To address this gap, we applied a usability testing method, Usability Evaluation for Evidence-Based Psychosocial Interventions (USE-EBPI) , to evaluate evidence-based universal (Tier 1) SEL programs. This paper describes how authors adapted the USE-EBPI protocol to evaluate SEL programs, with examples of how each evaluation step was applied and results including outcomes of each step, lessons learned, and future process refinements. Discussion focuses on the feasibility of using a systematic strategy such as USE-EBPI to evaluate SEL program usability as well as its potential application to other education programs.