Strength-based assessment has achieved acceptance from educational, mental health, and social service professionals as a means to measuring emotional and behavioral strengths of children. Several standardized, norm-referenced tests have been developed to assess these strengths; however, the primary mode of assessment is via informal interviews of…

Identifying student strengths is central to transition planning. However, school personnel use few assessments that operationalize behavioral and emotional strengths, and the psychometric functioning of those measures have not been established with transition-age students. In this two-part study, we used a national sample of transition-age…

Child assessment practices have undergone, and are continuing to undergo, significant changes. Among the most prominent changes is the movement toward measuring child well-being, in general, and emotional and behavioral strengths, in particular. The Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale (BERS) is a strength-based instrument which is widely used in…

The present study examined the measurement properties of the Emotional and Behavioral Screener (EBS), a universal screening instrument which identifies students presenting with emotional and behavioral problems. The primary research questions sought to examine the degree to which the EBS item responses fit the Rasch model through evaluating fit of…

The present study investigated evidence of the construct validity of scores from the Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale (BERS-3), which is a multi-informant assessment designed to measure the behavioral and emotional strengths of school-aged youth. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the degree to which BERS-3 scores differed between…

When rating scales are used in different countries, thorough investigation of the psychometric properties is needed. We examined the internal structure of the Finnish translated Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale-2 (BERS-2) using Rasch and confirmatory factor analysis approaches with a sample of youth, parents, and teachers. The results…

Community-based systems of care (SOC) provide a range of services to students with significant emotional and behavioral difficulties and their families. However, little is known about the educational characteristics and functioning of students at enrollment in SOC. The purpose of this study was to replicate and extend previous research by…

In previous research the Finnish version of the Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale-2 (Epstein, 2004) has demonstrated adequate internal consistency and reliability. The purpose of the present study was to examine the convergent validity of the Finnish BERS-2 by comparing it with the Finnish version of the Strengths and Difficulties…

Strength-based assessment of behaviors in preschool children provides evidence of emotional and behavioral skills in children, rather than focusing primarily on weaknesses identified by deficit-based assessments. The Preschool Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scales (PreBERS) is a normative assessment of emotional and behavioral strengths in…

The assessment of emotional and behavioral strengths has been identified as an important part of the assessment process for children referred for specialized services. The Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale-2 (BERS-2; Epstein, Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale: a strength-based approach to assessment. PRO-Ed, Austin, TX, 2004) was developed…

The Preschool Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale (PreBERS) is a standardized, norm-referenced instrument that assesses the emotional and behavioral strengths of preschool children. Two studies that investigated the test-retest and inter-rater reliability of the PreBERS are reported. In the first study, teachers rated preschool children (N = 96)…

Adolescent boys and girls, identified as either behaviorally disordered (N=166) or normal (N=183), were rated by teachers on the Behavior Problem Checklist (BPC), with such results as significant differences for pupil category, BPC dimension, and category by dimension interaction, but no significant differences for sex. (MC)

Problem-behavior rating scale data on elementary-aged learning disabled and normal boys were factor analyzed. Somewhat different factors were identified for normal and learning disabled groups. Implications of the findings for hyperactivity as distinct from other conduct problems and for classifying youngsters' behavior and emotional problems are…

Three studies are reported addressing the test-retest reliability and convergent validity of the Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale-Second Edition (BERS-2): Parent Rating Scale (PRS). In the first study, test-retest reliability was investigated over a one-week period to determine the stability of the BERS-2 PRS over time. Reliability…

Two convergent validity studies of the Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale (BERS) were conducted with primary students. It was compared to the Systematic Screening for Behavior Disorders and the Scale for Assessing Emotional Disturbance. The BERS demonstrated adequate convergent validity and is recommended for identifying students with special…