This study examined the benefit of utilizing one-item academic and one-item behavior readiness teacher-rated screeners at the beginning of the school year to predict end-of-school year outcomes for middle school students. The Middle School Academic and Behavior Readiness (M-ABR) screeners were developed to provide an efficient and effective way to…

This study examined reliability and validity of the Devereux Early Childhood Assessment (DECA), based on samples of parents and teachers' ratings of 1,145 entering kindergartners in the Southwest. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that DECA presented good reliability and validity for manifest variables, corroborating previous findings. Three…

Information on the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, a major revision of the Vineland Social Maturity Scale, covers authors, publisher, prices, copyright dates and revisions, groups for whom the instrument is intended, forms, purpose and recommended use, dimensions measured, administration, data summation, score interpretation, test…

This article provides an overview of strength-based assessment of children and adolescents with emotional and behavioral disorders and discusses the development and psychometric characteristics of the Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale (BERS). The BERS is a norm-referenced, standardized test that assesses the strengths of children and…

This study reports on the standardization of the Scale for Assessing Emotional Disturbance. Data collected on 2,266 typical students (ages 5- 18) and 1,371 students with emotional disturbances led to the identification of six behavioral problem factors that correspond to the federal definition of emotional disturbance and were highly internally…

This article describes the development and validation of the Developmental Behavior Checklist for children with emotional and behavior problems along with mental retardation. The article discusses generating and refining the checklist items, results of a principal components analysis, establishing reliability and construct and criterion validity,…

This article discusses the advantages and disadvantages of the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales for measuring adaptive behavior in adults with mental retardation. It concludes that the advantages of the coverage of the main domains of adaptive behavior, their standardization, impressive psychometrics, and brevity are becoming outweighed by…

Prompted by the increased use of behavior rating instruments in educational environments and evidence of confusion over the interpretation of labels designating behavior clusters, the present two-phase study analyzed 410 specific items contained in seven behavior rating instruments and investigated whether these items could be intuitively sorted…

A SOCIOMETRIC TEST WAS USED TO COMPARE THE SOCIAL ACCEPTANCE OF MENTAL RETARDATES IN THE GRADE SCHOOL SPECIAL CLASSES AND THE REGULAR CLASSES. MODIFIED SYRACUSE SCALES OF SOCIAL RELATIONS (SSSR) WERE ADMINISTERED IN TEST-RETEST DESIGN TO 400 CHILDREN. AN EXAMINATION WAS MADE OF THE FOUR SPECIAL NEEDS SCALES. CONCLUSIONS DRAWN FROM THE DATA…

This article describes the second edition of the Attention Deficit Disorders Evaluation Scale (ADDES II), an individually administered behavior rating scale developed to assist in the identification and service of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorders. Its purpose, administration, interpretation of scores, standardization,…

This paper offers a method for evaluating protective factors in young children at risk for emotional and/or behavioral disorders. It reviews the development, standardization, validation, and use of a new, nationally standardized measure of within child protective factors, the Devereux Early Childhood Assessment (DECA). The DECA evaluates the…

Presents data that establish the convergent and discriminant construct validity of a new behavior-rating scale for use with the early childhood-preschool population, the Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales (PKBS). The scale appears to show promise as a research tool, screening device, and assessment instrument for assessing social-emotional…

This article describes the Behavior Assessment System for Children, a multimethod, multidimensional approach to evaluating the behaviors and self-perceptions of children ages 2.6 to 18 years. The BASC contains a Teacher Rating Scale, a Parent Rating Scale, and a Child Self-Report of Personality. Its administration, reliability, and validity are…

Measures of 4traits (cognitive competence, social competence, social maladaption, and personal maladaption) were obtained on 157 persons with mental retardation, using 3 measurements: standardized assessment instrument, day shift staff ratings, and evening shift staff ratings. The multitrait-multimethod matrix procedure demonstrated strong…

Noting that the last 40 years have witnessed an enormous increase in the number of psychological tests designed for the assessment of competencies in very young children, this review summarizes the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of psychological tests and other assessment instruments used to evaluate the cognitive functioning of…