Devereux Early Childhood Assessments

The continuum of resources developed by the Devereux Center for Resilient Children (DCRC) support the healthy social and emotional development and resilience of children and the adults who care for them.
Building from resilience research, DCRC has developed nationally standardized, reliable and valid assessments that help to strengthen protective factors in children from birth through preschool. These strength-based assessments provide the cornerstone of our work. Each assessment is:
- Easy to Use. Complete an assessment and use companion strategies to build the critical social and emotional skills children need.
- Research-Based. Nationally standardized, reliable and valid, the assessments meet or exceed standards for high quality.
- Comprehensive. The assessments are completed by caregivers, teachers and families, ensuring a team approach to building social and emotional skills for all children.
- Strength-Based. The tools help to build on a child’s existing competencies and offer a strength-based approach to address areas identified for growth.
- Positive Outcomes. The information contributes to significant, positive change in the life of a child.
Below are full summaries, one-page overviews, and technical information on each of the assessment tools in our birth through preschool continuum. Visit the MASTER Matrix to view a one-pager of the properties of ALL of our assessment tools together.
MASTER Matrix of all DCRC Assessment Tools – View/Download
Combined Summaries of all DCRC Assessment Tools – View/Download
Comparing Pre-test and Post-test Scores Across the Devereux Assessment Tool Continuum – View/Download
Research Evidence for the DECA Program – View/Download
DECA for Infants (DECA-I)
- Full Summary
- One-Pager
- Protective Factors Definitions – English, Spanish
- Development and Standardization
- Psychometric Properties
- Paper Scoring Tutorial
- Measuring Change in Scores:
- Guidance: Measuring Outcomes for Individual Children, Groups of Children and Program Evaluation/Quality Improvement
- Activities to Help Promote Resilience in Infants

DECA for Toddlers (DECA-T)
- Full Summary
- One-Pager
- Protective Factors Definitions – English, Spanish
- Development and Standardization
- Psychometric Properties
- Paper Scoring Tutorial
- Measuring Change in Scores:
- Guidance: Measuring Outcomes for Individual Children, Groups of Children and Program Evaluation/Quality Improvement
- Activities to Help Promote Resilience in Toddlers

DECA for Preschool (DECA-P2)
- Full Summary
- One-Pager
- Protective Factors Definitions – English, Spanish
- Development and Standardization
- Psychometric Properties
- Paper Scoring Tutorial
- Measuring Change in Scores:
- Guidance: Measuring Outcomes for Individual Children, Groups of Children and Program Evaluation/Quality Improvement
- Activities to Help Promote Resilience in Preschoolers

DECA Preschool Clinical (DECA-C)
- Full Summary
- One-Pager
- Development and Standardization
- Psychometric Properties
- Paper Scoring Tutorial
- Measuring Change in Scores:

For the Adults in Children’s Lives
Recognizing the important link between the health of children and the adults who care for them, DCRC has also developed tools which can be used by adult caregivers, to better understand their own social and emotional strengths.
- Devereux Adult Resilience Survey (DARS) – English, Spanish
- Devereux Resilient Leadership Survey (DERLS)
