Assessing Emotional and Behavioral Disorders in Schools

Introduction: Why EBD Assessment Matters in Schools

Identifying and assessing emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) in schools helps identify and address a number of risky behaviors among young people in a timely manner. Students with EBD experience difficulties learning, struggle with social relationships, face depression and anxiety, and exhibit inappropriate behaviors. School administrators are typically aware of these students, as they require a great deal of support and various resources to function within a school environment (Davis, Young, Hardman & Winters, 2011).

Early identification of problem behaviors helps school administrators provide the necessary support students need before the situation becomes unmanageable. Even though students at risk of EBD display less severe characteristics and lower frequency than those already diagnosed, early identification is crucial for improving educational outcomes (Davis, Young, Hardman & Winters, 2011).

Individuals with EBD tend to experience instability in the workplace or face mental health challenges after high school. The social alienation experienced by many of these students is related to anxiety, conduct problems, and depression. Students with EBD often come across as sad, unlikable, lacking social competence, and provocative. These traits can make it difficult to cope and integrate into social environments at school or at home. Such characteristics can be minimized — if not eliminated — through targeted interventions following identification (Davis, Young, Hardman & Winters, 2011).

EBD is categorized into two types: internalizing and externalizing. Internalizing behaviors involve internal problematic feelings such as over-sensitivity, anxiety, sadness, and withdrawal. Externalizing behaviors, by contrast, manifest as unruliness, aggression, forcefulness, and oppositional conduct. In some cases, students may exhibit both characteristics — for example, experiencing both anxiety and aggression simultaneously — though most students are primarily identified with either internalizing or externalizing tendencies (Davis, Young, Hardman & Winters, 2011).

It is important to screen students for both categories of EBD to avoid overlooking any individual. Students with internalizing problems are often ignored because they do not present disciplinary issues and may earn good grades, although some may have attendance problems. Teachers can identify students who appear withdrawn, anxious, fearful, or unassertive and report these concerns to relevant authorities for intervention. The assessment and identification process must be effective, efficient, practical, and evidence-based. Unfortunately, few measures have been implemented to identify and reduce these risks in secondary students with respect to both externalizing and internalizing behaviors (Davis, Young, Hardman & Winters, 2011).

Before carrying out any assessment procedures, it is essential to understand the assessment tools, rating scales, checklists, and methods for measuring behavioral and emotional aspects. There are various ways an assessment can yield reliable results, but the following steps should be considered for success. Understanding the assessment tools will clarify the valid outcomes of each test and help maintain the integrity of the assessment process.

How Assessments Should Be Conducted

Best assessment practices must enable teachers, parents, and other stakeholders to make informed decisions about a student's education. A comprehensive and well-designed assessment is crucial to ensuring that students access appropriate educational opportunities. The assessment should focus on:

These decisions can only be made when appropriate assessments drawing on multiple sources of information — including observations, evaluations, rating scales, and normative data — are used. In addition, the techniques employed must be valid and reliable for the specific population being assessed (Connecticut State Department of Education, 2012).

When developing an IEP for students with emotional disturbance who exhibit behaviors that evoke high anxiety levels, goals, objectives, and program characteristics must be established before specific program placements and educational settings are determined. Assessment information collected during the eligibility-determination phase contributes directly to developing the plan that becomes the student's education program (Connecticut State Department of Education, 2012). The assessment conducted by the multidisciplinary team must yield a student profile that reflects current levels of performance, needs, strengths, and behavioral patterns in response to environmental and internal factors.

Individualized Education Program (IEP) Development

According to IEP guidelines, goals should be written based on current performance levels and must reflect appropriate specialized instruction. Intervention strategies and supports are the next consideration in developing a student's IEP. These interventions focus on redirecting students who struggle with self-regulation, determining how much re-teaching is required, and identifying opportunities for students to practice social skills in natural environments (Connecticut State Department of Education, 2012).

The following table summarizes three formal assessment instruments commonly used in school districts to evaluate emotional and behavioral disorders.

1. Behavior Assessment System for Children, Second Edition (BASC-2; Reynolds & Kamphaus, 2004)
The BASC-2 is a tool that provides information about a child's emotions and behaviors. It includes a range of scales and forms — parent and teacher rating scales, a self-report and personality inventory, a student observation system, and a structured developmental history. Together, these tools measure the child's behavioral patterns. The Self-Report of Personality (SRP) assesses the child's own feelings and emotions, while the Structured Developmental History (SDH) helps gather background information on the child (Texas Guide, 2013).

Conclusion

The SDQ is a relatively short and user-friendly tool for screening psychological problems in children compared to other common questionnaires. Its 25 items make it considerably shorter than instruments like the Child Behavior Checklist, which contains up to 118 items. Because the SDQ is free and available online, using it to screen children is becoming an increasingly practical option (Stone, Otten, Engels, Vermulst & Janssens, 2010).