Consideration of Base Rates Within Universal Screening for Behavioral and Emotional Risk: A Novel Procedural Framework.

Universal screening for behavioral and emotional risk represents an important component of multitiered systems of support, being a means by which schools identify at-risk students and evaluate the effectiveness of Tier 1 programming. Despite its importance, many schools have not adopted universal screening procedures, instead relying upon more reactive methods of student identification. A particularly common concern around screening includes the potential for over identification of at-risk students and the exhaustion of already limited school resources. This article introduces a novel universal screening procedural framework intended to address this concern, yet allow for proactive-oriented universal screening. This framework structures the universal screening process by determining (a) the targets of multitiered systems of support and (b) how school resources and educator time should be allocated to meet student needs efficiently and effectively. Information is provided regarding implementation of the framework, along with illustrative examples of the process and its relation to Tier 1 (school- and class-wide intervention) and Tier 2 (individual- and group-level intervention) practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]