An Examination of the Validity of the Behavioral and Emotional Screening System in a Rural Elementary School

Abstract

The purpose of the current study was to evaluate a screening instrument. The sample contained 496 elementary children from the rural southeast. Properties of the Teacher, Parent, and Student Forms of the Behavioral and Emotional Screening System were examined. Results indicated that all forms had high levels of internal consistency. There were low to moderate correlations between the Teacher Form and reading, behavior, and attendance variables. The Parent Form was significantly correlated with attendance and reading. The Student Forms were significantly correlated with office discipline referrals, attendance, and reading. The Teacher Form identified 28% of students as being at-risk (elevated or extremely elevated), followed by 20% and 32% on the Parent and Student Forms, respectively. The risk groups were significantly different in terms of attendance, behavior, and achievement. However, interrater agreement regarding risk status across different raters was low. All forms demonstrated low positive predictive power and low to moderate sensitivity relative to an outcome of office discipline referrals but did show reasonably strong negative predictive power and specificity. Future directions for research are presented.