Improving the Science of Studying Leadership Development: A Roadmap for 2019 and Beyond

With today's announcement that the MSL will return in 2019 (and annually thereafter), I thought it would be a good time to raise some issues that the MSL Study Team has been working on.  This is not intended as an in-depth exploration of these topics -- we will try to address each in coming posts -- rather, we offer it today as a laundry list of what the future of the MSL holds.

• In 2018 there were very few changes to the questionnaire - our focus was on consistency and stability of the instrument.  In 2019, we do not expect to change a lot of items, however, we are specifically working on the development of some new social innovation capacities measures that we expect to include in the 2019 instrument!
• For years there have been a small number of Canadian institutions participating in the MSL - and we hope that 2019 will be the year of the Canadian institution!  The MSL team is working with Canadian institutions to develop a Canadian College version of the instrument to accompany the current Canadian University version.  Additionally, we are actively looking for partner institutions who may be interested in building out a Canadian French language translation as well.  If you are a Canadian institution and you have any interest in either of these efforts, please contact the MSL Study Team at msl@soundrocket.com.
• The survey methodologists at SoundRocket (the MSL data collection partner) have been hard at work in developing an improved web-based survey experience for students.  This includes:
  • An experiment conducted in partnership with Rutgers University during the MSL2018 to explore improved designs for a mobile optimized version of the questionnaire.
  • Significant upgrades to the accessibility of the web survey.  The MSL2019 will be the most accessible & inclusive college student web-based survey yet!
• The MSL team is currently exploring adaptations of the MSL instrument to be applied in related (and not so related) populations, such as secondary school students and business populations!  While these efforts will likely emerge beyond 2019.
• With the return to annual data collections, we can now also more easily explore the idea of a longitudinal study design option.

We enjoy doing this part of our work as much as we enjoy assisting schools in participating in the MSL for their own benefit.  The MSL lives in the latest science - from purpose of the study to the methodology of how it is implemented.  

Perfection may be our goal - but we live in a continual improvement world and are always looking to get better.  Please do let us know if you have any related needs that are currently not being met by the MSL as its currently designed.

Stay tuned for more details over the coming days/weeks as we gear up for MSL2019!