Accessing and Using Next Steps Resources
What are Next Steps resources?
Next Steps resources help educators connect assessment results to instruction by providing activities and instructional guidance aligned to specific assessment questions and skills.
Next Steps resources are available from Forefront Education for the Universal Screeners for Number Sense (USNS), Fractional Reasoning Screeners (FRS), Bridges Third Edition, and DIBELS. Your district may also have configured Next Steps resources for your district or other instructional programs.
With the updated Next Steps libraries, educators can search and filter resources, save activities for later, organize materials into folders, and track which activities they've completed with students.
Watch the short interactive demo below to learn how to access and use the updated Next Steps libraries.
How to Access Next Steps Resources
There are several ways to access Next Steps resources in Forefront. You can open resources directly from assessment results in the spreadsheet or reports, or explore the available libraries from the left-hand navigation menu.
From the Data-Entry Spreadsheet
Select a student's assessment result to open the right-hand sidebar.
Click Next Steps For Support to explore instructional resources aligned to that assessment question.
Select a resource to view the activity and instructional guidance.
If your district has previously attached documents or links to individual assessment questions, these will still be available under Next Steps For Support (legacy).
From Reports
You can also access Next Steps resources while reviewing assessment results in Forefront reports.
Click the question number or letter below a column in the report to explore that assessment question.
Select the Next Steps tab.
Click Next Steps For Support to explore instructional resources aligned to the question.
Any previously attached resources will remain available under Next Steps For Support (legacy).
From the Next Steps Libraries
To browse and explore available instructional resources, select Next Steps from the left-hand navigation menu.
Resources are organized into libraries based on the assessments and instructional programs your district uses.
Within a library, you can:
Search for resources using keywords, assessment questions, standards, or other available search options.
Filter resources by grade level, group size, instructional mode, or other categories.
Explore activities by selecting a resource tile to view the activity and instructional guidance.
Save activities to return to them later.
Saving and Organizing Activities
You can save activities you want to use with students or return to later.
Select the save option on an activity to add it to My Next Steps. Save activities to your default folder or create new folders to organize them by topic, grade level, day of the week, or any other category that works for you.
To access your saved activities, select My Next Steps from the Next Steps library.
Tracking Completed Activities
After using a Next Steps activity with students, you can mark it as done to keep track of the instructional resources you've used.
Open the activity and select Mark as Done.
Select the class, group, or individual students who completed the activity.
Choose the date the activity was completed and save.
Activities can be marked as done more than once, allowing you to track when you've used an activity with different students or at different times.
A Note About Legacy Next Steps Resources
Some districts have previously added instructional documents and links directly to individual assessment questions. These resources will continue to be available under Next Steps For Support (legacy) in the spreadsheet and reports.
The updated Next Steps libraries provide additional options for searching, saving, organizing, and tracking instructional activities.
Need more support?
Submit a support request or email our team at [email protected].