A Memorandum of Understanding signed on Monday 4 December 2023 between the University of Malta and an American social behavior assessment and intervention organisation, enables collaborations between researchers at the UM Centre for Resilience and Social Emotional Health and SAIL researchers in the USA over the next 4 years.
Researchers from these two entities recently collaborated successfully to evaluate the effects of an intervention program on students’ social emotional behavior in schools across 6 EU countries. For this completed project, SAIL CoLab’s SSIS SEL Brief Scales were used as the primary assessment tool.
As a result of this research, many other EU researchers have expressed interest in using these assessments in related research.
The new collaboration between UM and SAIL will support researchers’ use of these assessments and as well as the development of new assessment tools in social and emotional health within the European context. The agreement also launched a nationwide survey of the social emotional health of Maltese students, in collaboration with the Directorates for Education.
The Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Prof. Alfred J. Vella, Rector at the University of Malta, and , President of SAIL CoLab and the Mickelson Foundation Professor at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona, USA. Prof. Valerie Sollars, Pro-Rector and Chair of the Centre for Resilience and Socio-Emotional Health, and Prof. Carmel Cefai, Director of the Centre for Resilience and Socio-Emotional Health, also attended the event.
During his visit, Prof. Elliott also met representatives from the Ministry of Education and the University of Malta Knowledge and Transfer Office and Legal Office. He also delivered a seminar on assessment and actionable results to students following the Joint Master Programme in Resilience in Educational Contexts at the University of Malta.
