The Brief Academic Competence Evaluation Screening System (BACESS; Elliott, DiPerna, & Huai, 2003) is a multi-phase instrument designed to assist educators in the identification of students who are likely to experience early learning problems. The BACESS was used in eight elementary classrooms (n=71) in southern California. Each phase of the BACESS was found to be highly reliable, and the BACESS was found to share concurrent validity with the California Standards Tests. Teacher feedback via an evaluation survey indicated that phases 1 and 2 of the system were time efficient and useful. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)