Joni Williams Splett

Universal screening of students’ social, emotional, and behavioral needs requires psychometrically sound tools to support timely intervention. The BASC-3 BESS Teacher Form–Child/Adolescent is widely used for this purpose, yet independent evaluations of the form are limited and often do not test alternative factor structures beyond those stated in the manual. This study examined four factorial models using data from 5,150 K–5 students rated by 278 teachers across 10 elementary schools in two Southeastern states. The sample was randomly divided into a development ( n = 2,727) and validation ( n = 2,423) group. Model fit was tested in the development sample and cross-validated in the second. Results showed the bifactor model, with two correlated residual pairs, provided the best fit in both samples. Reliability indicators supported well-defined constructs in the bifactor model, though Externalizing Risk and Adaptive Skills Risk subscales explained only marginal variance. Implications for improving these subscales and future practice are discussed.

Recommendations, resources, and policy for schools to implement a continuum or multitiered system of prevention and intervention supports (MTSS) for academic, behavioral, and mental health functioning continue to increase. Accurate and meaningful data, including universal screening, are a central component of MTSS and must perform consistently across racially and ethnically diverse student groups. The present study examined scores from the Behavior Intervention Monitoring Assessment System-Second Edition, a universal mental health screening tool used widely in large, racially diverse school districts, as a function of student race to identify any differential functioning in the assessment. Participants included 1,168 students (68% Black and 32% White) rated by their 4^th- or 5^th-grade teacher across nine elementary schools in a partnering school district in the Southeastern United States. Results from an item response theory approach using differential item functioning revealed several items with differential item functioning by student race on subscales included in the measure's Behavioral Concerns Scale and Adaptive Scale. In addition, differential item functioning items were found to impact students' risk status in these domains, specifically the Negative Affect and Social subscales, as well as all items on Academic Functioning performing differently between groups. These findings are problematic for using the Behavior Intervention Monitoring Assessment System-Second Edition as a universal mental health screening assessment in the MTSS of a racially diverse school or district. Future research should explore other facets of the Behavior Intervention Monitoring Assessment System-Second Edition and similar screening instruments that may be driving differential ratings including improvements to the instrument and efforts to mitigate misidentification. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Despite widespread recommendations to implement universal mental health screening (UMHS), there remains an “implementation gap” between evidence-based practices and how these practices are routinely adopted and implemented in schools. Research with end-users in mind is needed to identify implementation barriers and facilitators for UMHS and inform feasible implementation strategies that ensure UMHS is used as intended in practice to reduce youths’ unaddressed mental health risk. Guided by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR), a qualitative study of practice-based evidence was conducted to examine the implementation determinants of UMHS within a tiered mental health system. Interviews with school leaders ( n = 11) within Florida school districts implementing UMHS were analyzed using thematic analysis. Results identify how the outer, inner, individual, program, and process-level determinants affect the implementation of screening. Specifically, buy-in was considered the most significant direct and indirect factor that influenced implementation within all levels of the CFIR framework. Implementation strategies connected to the determinants identified in this study are discussed, along with recommendations for future research to improve the implementation of UMHS.

Along with increased attention to universal screening for identifying social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) concerns is the need to ensure the psychometric adequacy of tools available. Nearly all extant tests of universal SEB screening validity focus on traditional inferential forms with little to no study of the consequences of actions following those inferences, or consequential validity proposed under Messick's unified validity theory. This study examines one facet of consequential validity (i.e., utility) of results from one popular screening tool in six elementary schools in one large U.S. district. The schools identified students who were receiving SEB supports on a monthly form throughout one school year. Screening identified 991 students with SEB risk, of which 91 (9%) were receiving intervention prior to screening. After screening, schools provided intervention to an additional 66 students (7%). Unaddressed SEB risk remained after screening for 84% of screener-identified students. Latent profile analyses detected five patterns of risk with those students demonstrating the most risk and predominately externalizing concerns being most likely to receive intervention after screening. Study schools also provided intervention to students with elevated low risk after screening, but this profile was the largest group leaving 708 students with unaddressed SEB risk after screening. Results provide evidence of universal SEB screening interpretation to identify unaddressed SEB risk but insufficient use to provide intervention services at a rate that substantially reduced unaddressed SEB risk. Future research and practice directions for advancing the consequential validity of universal SEB screening are recommended and measurement limitations discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

A growing interest has been given to examining the heterogeneity of children’s health to provide for their particular needs. This study examined subgroups of elementary school children’s social, emotional, and behavioral functioning (SEB) using teacher ratings of children with the Behavioral and Emotional Screening System. A Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) was conducted with 5,150 students aged from kindergarten to fifth grade. Subscale scores in the areas of externalizing risk, internalizing risk, and adaptive skills risk were used to identify profiles. Students’ grade level, sex, race, and status of receiving special education services were added to investigate the impact of covariates on the classification of latent profiles. Four profiles of risk were identified: Well Development (60.5%), Normal Development (25.8%), Externalizing and Adaptive Skills Risk (9.1%), and Elevated Risk (4.6%). Significant differences of covariates including sex, race, and status of receiving special education services were identified. Specifically, males and African American students were more likely to be classified into the “Elevated Risk” profile than other profiles. Students who did not receive special education services were more in the “Well Development” profile. The results may have important implications for the stakeholders to allocate intervention and treatment resources effectively and accurately.

In this article, we present an introduction to the second part of a two‐part special series focused on embedding equity into school mental health. In the previous part, we focused on measurement and practice, and in this second part, we focus on theory.