EBS (Emotional and Behavioral Screener)
Developer: Cullinan & Epstein | Year: 2013.0
Overview
The Emotional and Behavioral Screener (EBS) is an accurate and efficient instrument that uses teachers’ ratings to identify students in grades K-12 who show signs of potential emotional or behavioral problems and who warrant careful observation, further assessment, or provision of more than the usual educational service. The EBS can be used by researchers, educational professionals, school district administrators or principals, to screen all students in a school, grade, or class, or an individual student. It can also be used to screen students within a three-tier positive behavior support model.
Key Details
Grade Level
Assessment Type
Domains Assessed
Respondent
Method
Cost
$137.50 for full kit
Time per Student
3-5 mins
Items
10.0
Item Format
Likert
Approach
Risk
Populations
The first sample in the validation study included 42 K-12 students in the mid-Atlantic region (Nordness et al., 2014). The second study included 42 Midwestern middle school students. The third study included 77 Midwestern middle school students.
Scoring
Overall Scores
Overall (At-Risk or Not At-Risk)
Subscale Scores
None
Scoring Procedures
Self-Scored
Interpretive Information
Cut-off/criterion score
Psychometric Properties
Reliability
The EBS Total Score means and standard deviations for the first and second administrations were 2.9 (SD = 4.4) and 2.7 (SD = 4.1), respectively. The correlation coefficient obtained for the Total EBS Score between the two ratings was .904 (p < .0001). The inter-rater correlation coefficient for the EBS Total Score was .630, which according to Hopkins’ (2002) criteria are large in magnitude and fall within the range reported by Achenbach and Edelbrock (1981) for raters from similar perspectives.
Validity
The correlation coefficient between the total EBS score and BASC-2 BESS total behavior risk score was .871, which according to the Hopkins (2002) criteria is very large.
References
Primary Citation
Nordness, P. D., Epstein, M. H., Cullinan, D., & Pierce, C. D. (2014). Emotional and Behavioral Screener: Test–retest reliability, inter-rater reliability, and convergent validity. Remedial and Special Education, 35(4), 211-217. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741932513497596