Co-Occurrence of Academic and Behavioral Risk within Elementary Schools: Implications for Universal Screening Practices

The purposes of this study were twofold. The first was to use latent class analysis to identify groupings of students defined by the presence or absence of academic or behavioral risk. The second was to determine whether these groups differed across various dichotomous academic and behavioral outcomes (e.g., suspensions, office discipline referrals, statewide achievement test failure). Students (N = 1,488) were sampled from Grades 3-5. All students were screened for academic risk using AIMSweb Reading Curriculum-Based Measure and AIMSweb Mathematics Computation, and behavioral risk using the Social, Academic, and Emotional Behavior Risk Screener (SAEBRS). Latent class analyses supported the fit of a three-class model, with resulting student classes defined as low-risk academic and behavior (Class 1), at-risk academic and high-risk behavior (Class 2), and at-risk math and behavior (Class 3). Logistic regression analyses indicated the classes demonstrated statistically significant differences statewide achievement scores, as well as suspensions. Further analysis indicated that the odds of all considered negative outcomes were higher for both groups characterized by risk (i.e., Classes 2 and 3). Negative outcomes were particularly likely for Class 2, with the odds of negative behavioral and academic outcomes being 6-15 and 112-169 times more likely, respectively. Results were taken to support an integrated approach to universal screening in schools, defined by the evaluation of both academic and behavioral risk.