The Life Skills Assessment Scale (DLSAS) has been developed by Dr. David Pearson and Dr. Fiona Kennedy from the UK who have been working together with Dream A Dream since 2008 to develop and publish a standardized and reliable impact measure for Dream A Dream’s Life Skills programmes for disadvantaged children.
Their immense work has resulted in a paper co-authored by them along with Dream A Dream Cofounder and Chief Executive Officer, Vishal Talreja. This has been accepted for publication in Social Behavior and Personality: An international journal for March 2014 (Kennedy, Pearson, Brett-Taylor & Talreja (2014). The Life Skills Assessment Scale: Measuring the life skills of disadvantaged children in the developing world. Social Behavior and Personality: An international journal, 42.2 [197-210). Access the paper at http://dx.doi.org/10.2224/sbp.2014.42.2.197
You can also download a copy of the paper here.
Our Annual Impact report (https://dreamadream.org/impact) demonstrates that 9 out 10 young people in our programmes are showing a positive improvement in Life Skills (assessed using the DLSAS) year-on-year.
The scale assesses 5 core life skills – a) Ability to take initiative b) Ability to interact with one another c) Ability to solve problems d) Ability to manage conflict e) Ability to understand and follow instructions.
The LSAS can be used for:
• Measuring programme impact – Find out how effective interventions are at increasing Life Skills among disadvantaged children.
• Getting a skills profile for an individual child – Look at five different Life Skills to see relative strengths in an individual child.
• Comparing an individual’s scores with norms – See how one child compares with the average scores for their age group.
• Allocating a child to the programme best for them – See how a child thrives in different programmes and help them choose the best one for them.
• Comparing one programme with another – Discover which Life Skills are best developed by a given programme.
• Feedback on progress – Let stakeholders (donors, parents, teachers, carers, children) see progress visually.
The LSAS can be used by:
• NGOs – Give feedback to stakeholders, inform programme strategy and maximise effectiveness
• Donors – Make better-informed decisions about funding allocation and support
• Researchers – Advance the study of Life Skills
• Clinicians – Use Life Skills as an outcome measure alongside mental health measures and know it is appropriate for disadvantaged Indian children
• Programme developers – Check out programme performance at an early stage
• Carers – Keep track of the progress of children in your care
The scale is an open source instrument and can be used to measure improvements in Life Skills amongst disadvantaged kids in the 8-15 age group anywhere in the world. The scale can be downloaded here.
About the Authors:
Dr. David Pearson, Consultant Clinical Psychologist, is a specialist in child and adolescent mental health, formerly an NHS Head of Psychology and Honorary Tutor at the University of Southampton. He has worked for Government (NHS) Hospitals for over twenty years included heading the Psychology Department for both adult and child services as a part of the Isle of Wight (NHS) Trust, UK. Research interests and publications have included clinical applications in child hyperactivity, food additives, hallucinations and the effects of child adversity.
Dr. Fiona Kennedy, Consultant Clinical Psychologist, was formerly an NHS Director of Psychology and Honorary Tutor at the University of Southampton and a member of the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Therapists (BABCP). She worked in the British National Health Service for over 20 years, specializing in mental health and in learning disability. She was Head of the Psychology Department for the Isle of Wight from 1989-2006. She has published on dissociation and other topics and specialises clinically in adult survivors of trauma, personality disorder and dissociation.
Mr. Vishal Talreja, Cofounder, Dream A Dream has been working with children and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds in India for over 18 years. He is an Ashoka Fellow and Eisenhower Fellow.
For further on information on Dream A Dream, contact:
Dream A Dream, No. 398/E, 17th Cross, 9th Main, 3rd Block, Jayanagar, Bangalore 560011, Karnataka, India
Ph: +91-80-40951084 | Email: info@dreamadream.org | Web: www.dreamadream.org
For information on the DLSAS, contact:
Vishal Talreja: vishal@dreamadream.org
Dr. Fiona Kennedy: drfionakennedy@greenwoodmentors.com
Dr. David Pearson: dr.pearson@yahoo.co.uk