The Leaders in Social and Emotional Assessment Research
Aperture Education's suite of DESSA screeners, assessments, strategies, and interventions are backed by evidence-based, industry leading peer-reviewed research.
Our research and development team strives to incorporate industry-leading best practices to ensure equity and efficacy in all of our offerings. At Aperture, we are committed to evidence-based practices, advancing the state of knowledge in our field, and providing information that will contribute to advocacy efforts for students’ social and emotional health.
Reducing Biased Assessments
Aperture Education is working to address biased assessments by minimizing rater bias, construct bias, item bias, and sample bias in our products
Peer-Reviewed Articles Featuring the DESSA
Our research and development team strives to conduct research to provide the evidence base for our resources, advance the state of knowledge in our field, and provide information that will contribute to advocacy efforts for students’ social and emotional health.
Guidance on Using the DESSA in the Process of Mental Health Screening and Assessment
Students with low social and emotional competence are more likely to develop a need for mental, emotional, and behavioral support.
Reducing Teacher and Student Stress with SEL
Research conducted by the American Federation of Teachers found that teachers are more stressed than the average employee working in fields other than education.
To Both Promote and Prevent: The Importance and Practicality of Strength Based Assessment
This white paper explores the importance of focusing on strength-based assessment of social and emotional competence that is proactive and supportive of mental health promotion and prevention efforts
What Are The Five Competencies of Social Emotional Learning
Growing students in the five competencies of social emotional learning have shown to increase academic scores 13 points, high school graduation rates 6%, and college graduation rates 11%
Efficient Implementation Monitoring in Routine Prevention Practice: A Grand Challenge for Schools
This study examined the relationship between teachers’ implementation of the PATHS curriculum and growth in student social and emotional competence as measured by the DESSA-mini.
Evidence Base for the DESSA by Aperture Education
Educators can easily incorporate the DESSA into their broader SEL program, knowing that the DESSA is supported by an empirical evidence base that demonstrates its reliability and validity
What You Need to Know About SEL’s Most Well-Regarded Assessment Suite, the DESSA
The DESSA suite of SEL assessments empowers educators to build a measurable and actionable social and emotional learning (SEL) program with reliable assessment.