Youth and caregivers (foster or biological parents,social workers,
educators, etc.) complete the ACLSA. It is appropriate for youth
in all living circumstances. For youth it is a self-assessment.
Caregivers complete the assessment based on their knowledge
of the youth.
The following assessments are available:
ACLSA-I: ages 8-9
ACLSA-II: ages 10-12
ACLSA-III: ages 13-15
ACLSA-IV: ages 16+ (Youth
version only)
ACLSA Short Form: ages
11-18
We recommend that a youth or young adult take the assessment
that best matches his/her developmental level. For example,
if a 14 year-old boy is developmentally advanced, you may want
him to take the ACLSA IV.
Using the ACLSA
Caregivers may use the ACLSA
to learn more about a youth. Or, if a caregiver provides life-skills
training, the ACLSA can be used to evaluate training effectiveness.
Full-length assessments
(ACLSA-I, ACLSA-II, ACLSA-III, ACLSA-IV) provide an overview
of youth life skills abilities. It is useful for goal setting,
program planning, and for measuring progress on life skills
acquisition.
Short form assessment
provides a brief summary of youth abilities. It is useful
for evaluating programs and for getting a quick assessment
of ability.
Customize the Forms
Additional Questions Section:
Organizations can conduct their own mini-survey using the
twenty response spaces (items A1-A20) provided at the
end of each full-length assessment. These questions can be
tailored to obtain information on the agency's unique programs
and outcomes.
An agency or organization can
provide the additional questions to the person completing
the ACLSA, along with instructions on how to respond (i.e.,
the scale anchor points). These responses will be listed in
the Individual Report, but not scored.
When to Use
Youths can be assessed as often as deemed necessary. At a minimum,
youths should be assessed once around age 16, and again a year
later to check on goal progress.
How to Administer
Youth forms - can be
administered individually or with a group, at home, in school
or in an agency. The questions can also be read to the youth
in an interview format.
Caregiver forms - The
caregiver most familiar with the youth should complete the
caregiver assessment about the same time the youth completes
the youth form. Multiple caregivers (i.e., treatment team
in a residential setting, both parents, or several teachers
of one youth) may collaborate on the caregiver form if appropriate.
The most useful information
will emerge if both Youth and Caregiver forms are administered,
and when youth and caregivers have completed it independently
(e.g., where the youth and caregiver complete their respective
assessments without discussing their responses).
Unanswered questions may result
in certain scores not being calculated. Raw Score:
all questions in a life skills domain must be answered to
get a score. Percentage of Mastery: at least 75 percent
of the questions in a life skills domain must be answered
to get a score.
Login Information
Users must login to access the
assessments. The user is asked to enter an Organization ID
(optional), Youth ID (optional), and an e-mail address (required).
If a Youth ID is entered, it will provide youth and caregiver
scores on the same Individual Report (the Score Report) as
long as the caregiver used the same Youth ID.
Organization ID - This
ID is optional, but agencies and organizations interested
in getting ACLSA Aggregate Data Reports should use an Organization
ID. Click on the Group Data Reports tab at the top right of
this page for more information.
Youth ID -This ID is
optional but should be used if you want to identify the person
taking the ACLSA. We strongly recommend the Youth ID not consist
of a person's name or any identifier unique to that person.
The youth ID can consist of numbers, letters and symbols (up
to 9 characters total).
In order to receive an Individual
Report with both youth and caregiver scores, the same youth
ID must be used by both youth and caregiver on the Login Information
page.
E-mail address: Notification
that ACLSA scores are ready is sent to this address.
Individual Report
The Individual Report (IR),
also known as the "Score Report," is scored electronically.
Upon completing the ACLSA, an e-mail containing a link to
the report is immediately sent to the address entered on the
Login Information page. Open the e-mail and click on the link
to open the report.
The IR contains the ACLSA scores
(see below for more information) and a summary of how each
of the assessment questions were answered.
Matched Scores: If scores
are to be matched (youth and caregiver scores on the same
report), the same Youth ID and e-mail address must be entered
by the youth and caregiver. Both assessments
must be completed within 42 days for a match to occur.
Types of Scores: The
Individual Report contains the following scores:
Percentage of Mastery
Score: This is the percentage of questions answered
"Very Much Like Me" in each of the life skill domains
(Daily Living Skills, Household and Community Resources,
Money Management, Social Development, Work & Study Habits).
ACLSA Total Mastery Score:
This is the percentage of questions on the entire assessment
answered "Very Much Like Me."
Raw Score: This is
the sum of the answers for each life skills domain. Raw
scores are calculated as follows: Very much like me -
3, Somewhat like me - 2, Not like me - 1. If one or more
questions are unanswered, a raw score is not calculated.
ACLSA Total Raw Score:
This is the sum of all the answers on the assessment.
It is calculated in the same manner as above.
If you have questions concerning the above information, please
e-mail us at ACLSA@casey.org
