Item-Based Psychometrics of the Preschool Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale

Abstract

The Preschool Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale (PreBERS) is an assessment of emotional and behavioral strengths in preschoolers with well-established reliability and validity for educational and clinical application in children with and without disabilities. The present study provides further evidence of psychometric rigor for items and subscales within the PreBERS, including internal consistency, reliability, item quality, and factorial validity. A national sample of 1,292 preschool children whose teachers scored the PreBERS were analyzed using classical test theory, Rasch modeling, and confirmatory factor analysis. Results confirmed that individual items were internally consistent within a four-factor model, and showed consistent item difficulty, discrimination, and fit relative to their respective subscale scores. This analysis provides further confidence for the use of the PreBERS by teachers to determine emotional and behavioral strengths in preschool children.