Accessing Strategies

Overview

Within the DESSA System there are Foundational Practices, a set of classroom routines and best practices that establish a positive learning environment. The DESSA System also includes Strategies resources that provide actionable ways for educators to help their students improve social and emotional skills. The Tier 2 Intervention Programs consist of five multi-week programs designed for targeted, small group instruction for students who need intensive skill building. This article details how to access these instructional resources within the DESSA System.

Strategy Organization

The instructional resources are housed within the Strategies tab in the DESSA System. They are grouped in folders and organized into two sections 1) Universal Strategies which contain the Foundational Practices and DESSA-aligned Instructional Strategies and 2) Targeted Programs which contain the Tier 2 Intervention Programs.

The strategies are organized by the DESSA social and emotional skills, including Optimistic Thinking, Self-Awareness, Self-Management (which includes Goal-Directed Behavior), Social Awareness, Relationship Skills, and Responsible Decision Making (which includes both Personal Responsibility and Decision Making).

From the Dashboard, select the Strategies tab at the top of the screen (Image 1).
To explore the universal strategies, select Foundational Practices or any of the DESSA-aligned Instructional Strategies (Image 2).
Within each of the DESSA-aligned Instructional Strategies folders, next select the appropriate grade level on the left, then click the button labeled Use Strategy. You will have the option to view/download the strategy or to track the strategy (Image 3).
To track a strategy: In the next window, add the strategy by searching for the names of the students using the search box, or by selecting the option titled: "Select All Students I Rate" then click Next (Image 4).
Then select the type of strategy, the target competency, the start and end dates, the frequency, the owner, and add any necessary comments and click Save (Image 5).
To explore the targeted programs, select Explore Tier 2 Intervention Programs (Image 6). This will open a new page containing each intervention program.