Devereux Student Strengths Assessment (DESSA)
General Information on the Measure | |
---|---|
Purpose of the measure |
DESSA assesses eight social and emotional competencies and is intended to help educators plan instruction, document students’ strengths and areas of need, inform progress monitoring, and evaluate program outcomes. |
Main constructs measured |
Cognitive competencies; Interpersonal competencies; Intrapersonal competencies |
Applicable grade levels |
K-8 |
Publication year for the most recent version |
2014 |
Year originally developed |
2008 |
Related measures | |
Measure Administration | |
Respondent |
Parents/guardians, teachers, or staff at schools and child-serving agencies, including after-school, social service, and mental health programs. |
Method of administration |
Paper/Pencil, Digital |
Number of items |
72 |
Item format |
Five-point Likert-type scale |
Administration time |
Five to 10 minutes |
Available languages |
English, Spanish |
Fee for use | Fee charged by developer |
Credentials required for administration |
None |
Scoring | |
Overall score reporting |
An overall Social-Emotional Composite score is reported. |
Subscore reporting |
There are eight subscores:
|
Scoring procedures |
Scoring manual and online scoring service is provided by the assessment developers. |
Interpretive information |
DESSA results are reported using T-scores and percentile ranks. Tools are also available for pre-test/post-test comparisons and rater comparisons. Online administration produces individual student, classroom, site, and program-level reports. |
Evidence of Technical Quality | |
Populations for which technical quality evidence has been collected |
A nationally representative sample of 2,500 children from across the United States (LeBuffe et al., 2009). Ratings were provided by teachers, out-of-school time staff and parents/guardians, 227 raters from across the United States (Nickerson & Fishman, 2009). |
Reliability evidence |
Internal consistency coefficients were estimated for the Social-Emotional composite as well as the eight subscales; they were estimated separately for parent and teacher raters. Coefficient alpha ranged from 0.82 to 0.99. Test-retest reliabilities ranged from 0.79 to 0.90 (parents), and 0.86 to 0.94 (teachers/staff). Intra-rater reliabilities had correlation coefficients of 0.73 for parents, and 0.74 for teachers/staff (LeBuffe et al., 2009). |
Validity evidence |
|
Locating the Measure | |
Obtaining a copy of the measure | apertureed.com |
References | |
LeBuffe, P.A., Shapiro, V.B., & Naglieri, J.A. , "The Devereux Student Strengths Assessment (DESSA)," Kaplan Press, 2009. Nickerson, A. B., & Fishman, C. (2009), "Convergent and divergent validity of the Devereux Student Strengths Assessment," School Psychology Quarterly, No. 24, 2009, pp. 48–59. Epstein, M. H. , "BERS-2: Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale," Examiner’s Manual, Vol. Second edition , Pro-Ed, 2004. Reynolds, C. R., & Kamphaus, R. W. , "BASC-2: Behavior assessment system for children," 2004. | |
Notes | |
This measure is also reviewed in the AWG Guide. |
Measure summary updated October 3, 2018.