DESSA Overview - NASP 18

Presentation from Paul LeBuffe, Vice President of Research and Development at Aperture Education and co-author of the DESSA.

1. T he DESSA Comprehensive System – A Data-Driven Approach to SEL Paul LeBuffe VP of Research and Development Aperture Education

2. Aperture Education New social venture formed in 2017 by The Devereux Foundation and Apperson, Inc. Sole mission is the promotion of social and emotional competence in children, youth and adults Currently offers The DESSA Comprehensive System delivered via the Evo Social/Emotional Assessment and Intervention System (Evo SEL)

3. Principles Underlying the DESSA Comprehensive System SEL should be strength-based SEL should be data-driven Responsive to the actual needs of your students Support CQI and Accountability SEL should encourage local decision making (variation within form) Teachers and staff know their students best

4. How Can S/E Assessment Improve Practice? High-quality assessment can: Enhance awareness of each student’s unique S/E strengths and needs Guide instruction to address the needs that actually exist Enable teachers and pupil personnel staff to honor, maintain, and leverage student strengths Assist in developing rapport with parents and students Identify meaningful strengths for IEPs Makes possible true prevention

5. 3 Rs of Quality Assessment Rigor Reasonableness Relevance

6. What are the Needs & Components? Universal Screening Detailed Assessment SEL Instruction Progress Monitoring Outcome Evaluation & Quality Improvement DESSA-mini DESSA DESSA Strategies Ongoing Progress Monitoring Form (OPM) Advanced Interpretation Techniques

7. The DESSA-mini Completed by Teachers, OST Staff, Parents Four equivalent 8-item forms Completed in 1-2 minutes per student; one planning period per class Yields one score – Social-Emotional Total Score (SET) Online via Evo SEL & paper and pencil English, Spanish, Dutch, and Italian

8. How Aperture Describes Social and Emotional Skills NB: not a deficit. “Burden” placed on adults to provide instruction.

9. DESSA-mini Results One Score – Social Emotional Total (SET) T-Scores Mean of 50, SD of 10 Percentiles Descriptive Terms for T-Score Ranges > 60 = Strength (≈ 16%) 41-59 = Typical (≈ 68%) < 40 = Need for Instruction (≈16%)

10. DESSA-mini DESSA mini normative group Standardization data for Teacher Raters (N = 1,249) Region: NE = 24.6%; South = 39.1%; Midwest = 22.3%; West = 14.0% 50.8% Males Grades: Kindergarten through 8 Representative with respect to Race, Hispanic ethnicity, and SES

11. DESSA-mini Psychometrics Reliability and SEM

12. DESSA-mini Psychometrics

13. Key Findings from Allentown Study Sensitivity Criterion > .50 (Glascoe) Obtained .63 Specificity Criterion > .75 Obtained .98 Consistent Classification 87% of the time

14. Relationship Between Academic Achievement and Social-Emotional Competence

15. Relationship Between Academic Achievement and Social-Emotional Competence

16. 3 rd Graders SEC (N=148) Variance Explained 53% 22% 9% 16% When social-emotional competence (SEC) is added, an additional 22% of SBA variance is uniquely predicted. Variance attributable to poverty alone reduced to 9% Together income and social emotional competence account for 47% of variance in reading. Which variable can we better impact in our schools?

17. Explaining the Variance in Academic Achievement Scores - Reading Reading PSSA Scores Income Social Emotional Competence 24.8% Social emotional competence explains an additional 16.5% of the variance in reading scores

18. Social-Emotional Competency of Students at the Beginning of School Year and Disciplinary Infractions These students are 450% (4.5X) more likely to be suspended or expelled by the end of the year Can this change our paradigm from reactive to proactive? Intervention to prevention?

19. DESSA-mini Summary Appropriate Uses: Universal screening RTI approach - repeated “probes” of social and emotional growth Needs assessment for SEL at the school or district level Limitations No information about specific S/E competencies or needs Doesn’t inform selection of strategies

20. The Devereux Student Strengths Assessment One, 72-item form Completed thoughtfully by parents, teachers and OST staff in about 5-8 minutes Yields 9 scores – 8 specific scales and the Social and Emotional Composite (SEC) The DESSA allows for Comprehensive assessment of key S/E skills Guiding instruction Outcome evaluation & CQI

21. DESSA Scale Structure Social Emotional Composite Eight Scales Self Awareness Self-Management Social-Awareness Relationship Skills Goal-Directed Behavior Personal Responsibility Decision Making Optimistic Thinking

22. DESSA Scales and CASEL Alignment

23. Purposes of the DESSA Identify social-emotional strengths and needs of elementary and middle school children. (high school coming 2018-19 School Year) Tier I – (if used at universal level) Produce classroom profiles that guide classroom-wide prevention/promotion strategies. Tier II - Assess at-risk children so that targeted small group or individual interventions can occur. Tier III - For special education students, identify important strengths that can be incorporated into IEPs and leveraged in practice.

24. Additional Purposes of the DESSA Foster collaboration between parents and teachers Document outcomes for individual students, classrooms, and communities

25. DESSA Raters Raters provide the ratings Teachers, After School Staff Parents Read at about the 6 th grade level Sufficient opportunity to observe the child The DESSA-HSE will have a youth self-report form as well

26. Minimizing the Minimal Teacher Rater Bias Teachers are very good observers of student behavior Problem behavior oriented scales have used for years Shapiro et al – teacher rater bias accounts for 16% of variance in scores Can be reduced to 10% through preservice training

27. DESSA Results T-Scores Mean of 50, SD of 10 Percentiles Descriptive Terms for T-Score Ranges > 60 = Strength 41-59 = Typical < 40 = Need for Instruction Individual Student Profile Classroom Profile

28. Individual Student Profile Strength Typical Need for Instruction

29. How many ways can this be used?

30. Individual Item Analysis Significant Item Score - Strength #18 – ask to take on additional work or responsibilities? Never Rarely Occasionally Frequently Very Frequently #37 – follow the example of a positive role model? Nonsignificant Item Score - Typical Significant Item Score - Need #69 – use available resources (people or objects) to solve a problem? Never Rarely Occasionally Frequently Very Frequently Never Rarely Occasionally Frequently Very Frequently

31. DESSA Strategies Provided as part of Aperture Ed’s Evo SEL web-based platform 5 different levels of strategies for each of the eight DESSA scales Teacher Reflection & Action Universal Group Individual Student Home 3 different age groupings: primary, intermediate elementary, and middle school

32. DESSA Strategies Strand 1 Evidence-based and field-tested strategies Strand 2 – Select strategies from SEL curricula Second Step, 4 Rs, Caring Classroom Community, Open Circle Strand 3 – Foundational SEL practices Learning agreements - Gratitude Greeting rituals - Movement Trauma-informed Practices - Student Voice Peer Coaching

33. Response to Intervention Core components of RTI Universal screening Classroom-based interventions Frequent monitoring of progress Has been very successful in preventing academic failures Why wouldn’t we take the same approach with social and emotional competency?

34. 38

35. Poor Response to Instruction

36. Pretest-Posttest Comparisons Pretest-Posttest Comparison Time 1 T -Score Posttest Confidence Range Time 2 T -Score Outcome – Check One Significant Decline No Change Significant Increase Personal Responsibility 58 50-65 62 X Optimistic Thinking 39 31-49 46 X Goal-Directed Behavior 51 44-58 50 X Social Awareness 36 28-49 52 X Decision Making 48 40-56 38 X Relationship Skills 58 51-64 62 X Self-Awareness 40 32-50 57 X Self-Management 53 45-60 59 X Social-Emotional Composite 47 44-50 54 X Rater 1 Name: ________________ Rater 2 Name: ________________ Date of Rating: ________________ Date of Rating: ________________ Mary Smith Mary Smith 10/10/14 2/28/15

37. School-Wide Outcome Evaluation School Name: __________________________ James Madison Elementary Date Range: _____________ 9/1/12 – 6/15/13 Outcome Scale # in Need at Pretest % in Need at Pretest # (%) Significant Decline at Posttest # (%) No Change at Posttest # (%) Significant Improvement at Posttest Comments Self-Awareness 72 20% 7 (10%) 29 (40%) 36 (50%) Moderate issue, moderate effectiveness. Target for QI Self-Management 36 10% 6 (17%) 24 (67%) 6 (17%) Smaller issue, limited effectiveness. Target for QI. Relationship Skills 72 20% 0 (0%) 15 (21%) 57 (79%) High effectiveness Optimistic Thinking 120 33% 6 (5%) 30 (25%) 84 (70%) Major issue for school; High effectiveness Social-Emotional Composite 94 26% 10 (11%) 25 (26%) 59 (63%) Nearly 2/3 of students showed overall improvement during year Total Number of Students: ___ 360

38. Utilization of the DESSA Comprehensive System with a Tiered Approach Tier I – Universal - Primary Prevention Universal Screening with DESSA-mini Consider Universal Assessment with the DESSA Classroom Profile Identifies common areas of strength and concern Leads to classroom-wide strategies Tier II – Targeted - Secondary Prevention Identification of children at-risk due to S/E Needs Individual Child Profile Targeted Strategies

39. Utilization of the DESSA (cont.) Tier III – Indicated - Tertiary Prevention Identification of strengths and needs in identified children Incorporated into IEPs Strong basis for collaboration with parents Program Evaluation Evaluate progress at the scale, child, and classroom level Basis for quality improvement and continuing education efforts

40. Applications of DESSA Teachers & School Psychologists Teachers Screen & Assess Guide Selection of Strategies Enhance SEL Curricula School Psychologists Complement deficit oriented assessments Set Goals and Objectives for pull-out groups Item Level Analysis to identify targets & strengths Classroom Consultation Tool

41. Ways the DESSA adds Value Meet requirements in states with social-emotional learning standards Assess competencies related to academic achievement Support implementation of SEL and similar programs Provides a wealth of competence building strategies Meet requirements to do meaningful strength-based assessment, especially with IEPs Contribute to our understanding of disorders

42. Thank You! Contact Information: Paul LeBuffe, VP of Research & Development Aperture Education [email protected] [phone] www.ApertureEd.com