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SAEBRS and I-BEGIN Screeners

We developed a universal screener that identifies school-age children who could use some help building social and emotional skills. This screener is called the Social, Academic, and Emotional Behavior Risk Screener or SAEBRS.

We are adapting the SAEBRS screener to be used with children ages 3 to 5 who speak English or Spanish. The early childhood screener is called the Identifying Behavioral and Emotional Growth Indicators and Needs screener or I-BEGIN.

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Research Projects

Development and Validation of the Social, Academic, and Emotional Behavior Risk Screener for Early Childhood
The primary purpose of this project is to develop and validate a social, emotional, and behavioral risk screener for early childhood. The assessment will be an online and application-based universal screening system available in both English and Spanish. It will be aligned with the Social, Academic, and Emotional Behavior Risk Screener (SAEBRS), a universal screener for K–12 settings that has been adopted in all 50 states, with the aim of supporting transition planning between early childhood and K–12 settings as well as informing intervention.

Publications

Eklund, K., Kilgus, S. P., von der Embse, N., Beardmore, M., & Tanner, N. (2017). Use of universal screening scores to predict distal academic and behavioral outcomes: A multi-level approach. Psychological Assessment, 29, 486-499. https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0000355

Eklund, K., Kilgus, S. P., Barber, A. J., Collins, B., & Eikenmeyer, M. (2023). The effect of student race/ethnicity on the diagnostic accuracy of the Social, Academic, and Emotional Behavior Risk Screener (SAEBRS). Psychology in the Schools, 60(10), 3878-3895. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.22967

Fallon, L. M., Veiga, M., Susilo, A., Robinson-Link, P., Berkman, T., Minami, T., & Kilgus, S. P. (2022). Exploring the relationship between teachers’ perceptions of culturally relevant supports, student risk, and classroom behavior. Psychology in the Schools, 59(10), 1948-1964. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.22568

Fallon, L. M., Veiga, M. B., Susilo, A., & Kilgus, S. P. (2023). Do teachers’ perceptions of high cultural responsiveness predict better student behavioral outcomes? Behavioral Disorders, 48(2), 97-105. https://doi.org/10.1177/01987429211067217

Iaccarino, S., von der Embse, N. P., & Kilgus, S. P. (2019). Interpretation and use of the Social, Academic, and Emotional Behavior Risk Screener (SAEBRS): A latent transition approach. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 37, 486-503. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734282918766650

Jenkins, A., Thoman, S., Wang, Y., von der Embse N. P., & Kilgus, S. P. (2021). Identifying type and evaluating stability of behavioral risk. Psychology in the Schools, 58(11), 2225-2237. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.22587

Kilgus, S. P., Bonifay, W., von der Embse, N. P., Allen, A. N., & Eklund, K. (2018). Evidence for the interpretation of Social, Academic, and Emotional, Behavior Risk Screener (SAEBRS) scores: An argument-based approach to screener validation. Journal of School Psychology, 68, 129-141. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2018.03.002

Kilgus, S. P., Bowman, N. A., Christ, T. J., & Taylor, C. N. (2017). Predicting academics via behavior within an elementary sample: An evaluation of the Social, Academic, and Emotional Behavior Risk Screener (SAEBRS). Psychology in the Schools, 54, 246-260. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.21995

Kilgus, S. P., Chafouleas, S. M., & Riley-Tillman, T. C. (2013). Development and initial validation of the Social and Academic Behavior Risk Screener for elementary grades. School Psychology Quarterly, 28, 210-226. https://doi.org/10.1037/spq0000024

Kilgus, S. P., Eklund, K., von der Embse, N. P., Taylor, C., & Sims, W. A. (2016). Psychometric defensibility of the Social, Academic, and Emotional Behavior Risk Screener (SAEBRS) teacher rating scale and multiple gating procedure within elementary and middle school samples. Journal of School Psychology, 58, 21-39. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2016.07.001

Kilgus, S. P., Eklund, K., von der Embse, N. P., Weist, M., Barber, A. J., Kaul, M., & Dodge, S. (2021). Structural validity and reliability of Social, Academic, and Emotional Behavior Risk Screener – Student Rating Scale (mySAEBRS) scores: A replication study. Assessment for Effective Intervention, 46(4), 259-269. https://doi.org/10.1177/1534508420909527

Kilgus, S. P., Izumi, J. T., von der Embse, N. P., Van Wie, M. P., Eklund, K., Taylor, C. N., & Iaccarino, S. (2019). Co-occurrence of academic and behavioral risk within elementary schools: Implications for universal screening practices. School Psychology, 34, 261-270. https://doi.org/10.1037/spq0000314

Kilgus, S. P., Sims, W., von der Embse, N. P., & Riley-Tillman, T. C. (2015). Confirmation of models for interpretation and use of the Social and Academic Behavior Risk Screener (SABRS). School Psychology Quarterly, 30, 335-352. https://doi.org/10.1037/spq0000087

Kilgus, S. P., Sims, W. A., von der Embse, N. P., & Taylor, C. N. (2016). Technical adequacy of the Social, Academic, and Emotional Behavior Risk Screener (SAEBRS) in an elementary sample. Assessment for Effective Intervention, 42, 46-59. https://doi.org/10.1177/1534508415623269

Kilgus, S. P., Taylor, C. N., & von der Embse, N. P. (2018). Screening for behavioral risk: Identification of high risk cut scores within the Social, Academic, and Emotional Behavior Risk Screener (SAEBRS). School Psychology Quarterly, 33, 155-159. https://doi.org/10.1037/spq0000230

Kilgus, S. P., von der Embse, N. P., Allen, A. N., Taylor, C. N., & Eklund, K. (2018). Examining SAEBRS technical adequacy and the moderating influence of criterion type on cut score performance. Remedial and Special Education, 39, 377-388. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741932517748421