Social-emotional assessments for students give districts data to inform universal support and targeted interventions. Understanding the differences between the types of assessments will equip school leaders with the right information to make the right decision for them.
The DESSA Assessments support a whole child environment through the encouragement of implementing social-emotional behavioral programs with fidelity. Within the DESSA System as a whole, educators can access universal screeners, assessments, and instructional strategies.
Educators can take advantage of on-demand virtual training to learn how to complete the assessments accurately based on behavioral observation, how to act on the data with instructional and supportive decisions, and to strengthen their own social-emotional skills. The training offered also provides educators with additional resources to support them in their implementation of social-emotional programming.
Educators universally screen with the DESSA-mini to get a baseline understanding of students’ social-emotional skills. The full DESSA assessment serves as a deeper dive into understanding students who get flagged for needing more instruction by the DESSA-mini. The DESSA Assessments focus on measuring students’ growth in their development in skills like Relationship Skills, Responsible Decision-Making, and Social Awareness over time. It is not an assessment of whether educators think students have the skills but how students demonstrate skills across their learning environments.
DESSA data can also be used to inform targeted small group (Tier 2) or intensive support (Tier 3) decisions by a school team. The DESSA Assessments make it easy to make data actionable. The reporting features allow approved district personnel to view student progress, track intervention use, and view the whole district’s performance in social-emotional skill growth.
The DESSA Student for 6-12 grade students adds another layer to understanding students’ skill development progress. The self-reports capture students’ own voices in how they feel they have strengthened their social-emotional skills. Once students complete the self-report, they receive real-time feedback to encourage them to continue in their skill journey.
With a strength-based lens, students learn their top skills to build their confidence. They then get access to the best practices and strategies needed to continue their journey, strengthening other skills. Educators can pair self-reported student data with their completed DESSA assessments to get a better understanding of students’ understanding of themselves with how educators observe their skills.
The use of DESSA data serves as the missing piece in many districts’ whole-child picture. Social-emotional assessments for students in combination with attendance, academic performance, school climate surveys, and behavioral referral data, also help build a better understanding of their overall wellbeing.
The DESSA Second Step Assessments are the only assessments specifically aligned to the Second Step SEL program curricula. That means they were specially developed to measure the exact competencies— like Emotion Management, Problem-Solving, Managing Relationships and Social Conflict— taught in the curriculum. Educators can still universally screen with the DESSA-mini to get a baseline understanding of students’ social-emotional skills.
The DESSA Second Step Assessments offering gives educators the best understanding of what works specifically in their Second Step curriculum implementation and what areas of learning need more support with evidence- and strength-based behavior rating scales.
Your social-emotional programs will benefit from the alignment between what gets taught and measured. Consistency allows for the building of a common language and shared social-emotional practices across your school system. Districtwide prioritization of this work encourages buy-in from educators as well. The fallout from initiatives comes from a lack of understanding of how what teachers get asked to do connects to the larger district/state goals.
Data plays a critical role in connecting back to the purpose of your social-emotional initiative, whether you are focused on skill development that aligns with your student behavioral expectations and portrait of a graduate efforts, school climate improvement, increasing academic performance, or measuring progress towards state social and emotional learning standards.
Data from social-emotional assessments for students gives teachers real-time feedback on the next steps in their whole class instruction and targeted small group and individualized intervention. This information also empowers student support staff with ongoing data-driven planning tools. Program implementation gets stronger with quick, reliable data points to inform instruction.
Furthermore, incorporating self-assessments with middle school students aligned with the digital Second Step program for grades 6-8 provides an opportunity for a comprehensive approach to supporting students and measuring the impact of teachers’ weekly lessons. Leveraging data from the educator’s perspective in the classroom and the student’s own self-perception enables the school team to provide meaningful supports that help students stay on track with developing a growth mindset, recognizing bullying, managing thoughts, emotions, decisions, and navigating relationships and social conflict.
Consider the current state of your social-emotional program implementation to make an informed decision about your next steps. What work has your team already completed? Does your program already use a curriculum? How do you measure the impact of that curriculum? These questions can guide the future of your initiative.
If you have a curriculum different than the Second Step curricula, consider using the DESSA Assessments to measure that program’s ability to teach students key social-emotional skills effectively. If your district already uses Second Step, you may consider integrating the DESSA Second Step Assessments to get the closest alignment between skills taught and skills demonstrated.
Measurement remains the common denominator, regardless of the choice your district makes. Measuring program impact plays a critical role in advancing your district’s understanding of how students apply their knowledge. Making an informed choice on those next steps ensures that your school sites continue making meaningful progress toward district goals.
Ready to learn even more? Meet with your Partnership Team Member.