For many colleges and universities, surveys constitute an important component of efforts to assess institutional effectiveness. Although the use of surveys in assessment is widespread, the National Center for Postsecondary Improvement (NCPI) report notes that examples of the use of survey results in academic decision making are relatively rare. One common problem with using the results from assessment surveys is that the data are not disaggregated, either in terms of survey questions or groups of students. If survey data are to be disaggregated, the survey needs to be administered to a large number of students in order to produce dependable measures. Using "scalelets" in assessment surveys is an approach that may provide college- or department-specific information without the need to survey very large numbers of students. In this article, the author provides an overview of the concept of scalelets. He also describes the results of a study he conducted to examine the possibility of using scalelets from the National Survey of Student Engagement.