At Branching Minds we have the ability to integrate social-emotional data from several surveys, assessments, and screeners with our platform so that educators can use this information to guide decision-making and best practices within an MTSS framework. Through our powerful technology integrations, we can ingest third party SEL assessment data from various providers. We also provide all of our district partners with free access to the SECA, which is a student self-reported social-emotional assessment.
Additionally, our partnership with Aperture Education provides our district partners the ability to administer the DESSA-mini screener and DESSA diagnostic assessment for their students directly through the Branching Minds platform and use those results to ensure all students receive the social-emotional support needed to succeed.
Grounded in resilience theory and directly aligned to the CASEL framework, the DESSA is a user-friendly, practical social-emotional learning assessment that meets the highest professional standards. It is a standardized, strength-based assessment designed to measure social-emotional competence for students in grades K-12. (This functionality is optional and charged separately).
How Does the DESSA Compare to Other SEL Assessments:
Reach out for a detailed comparison with the assessment tools in the market
Unpacking the Research on the DESSA
Over the past decade, the DESSA has been cited in 100+ research articles that examine the tool’s rigor or use it as an outcome measure in a research study. The DESSA-mini has been similarly cited in over 30 peer-reviewed journal articles. Research has been published on the DESSA-mini’s sensitivity and specificity, establishing the strength of the screener in accurately identifying students in need of social-emotional instruction. In studies including nationally representative samples of students, the DESSA-mini and DESSA have demonstrated evidence of internal reliability, indicating that the questions included on each measure are assessing a similar underlying construct. The nationally representative sample also allowed for the development of national norms. The DESSA and DESSA-mini were found to exhibit strong test-retest reliability and interrater reliability, as well as validity for their intended purposes, including content validity, criterion validity, and construct validity. The DESSA-mini was found to have strong predictive validity; students screened as having a Need for SEL Support, via the DESSA-mini at the beginning of the school year were 4.5 times more likely to have a record of serious disciplinary infraction at the end of the school year, compared with those who were not identified by the screener.
Like the DESSA K-8 and the DESSA-mini, the DESSA-High School Edition and the DESSA-High School Edition mini are also both nationally standardized and norm-referenced. Thus, the assessment can be applied to students nationwide, regardless of age, gender, or other demographic factors. In addition, it exceeds the recommended standard for reliability and assessment validity.
Learn how Aperture and the DESSA can assess skills and measure outcomes of the Harmony SEL program. The Harmony SEL Crosswalk shows where assessed DESSA skills appear in Harmony curriculum components.
When used in a Multi-Tiered Systems of Support approach, the Harmony SEL Crosswalk can be used to identify supplemental instructional programming at Tier II and Tier III.
The Harmony SEL Crosswalk can also be used to inform Harmony SEL program evaluation.
Download the Harmony SEL Crosswalk to learn more!
