Behavior Screening FAQs

NCII developed this resource to help educators better understand the purpose of and considerations surrounding behavior screening in schools. Educators can use the information on this resource in conjunction with the Behavior Screening Tools Chart to (a) design a screening process for their school and (b) select or evaluate screening tools.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why should I screen for behavior?

Universal behavior screening serves to proactively identify children who require behavior intervention, including intensive intervention. Screening helps identify students who (a) are at-risk and may benefit from targeted behavioral intervention support (e.g., check-in check-out) and/or (b) are at high risk and may benefit from intensive intervention. Behavior screening can also help schools understand the strength of their universal behavioral program. For example, if a screener identifies a large majority of students as at-risk, a school may benefit from adjusting its universal program and increasing teacher training.

Behavior screening should be viewed as a complementary counterpart to academic screening. In other words, behavior screening should be used in addition to academic screening to identify students with combined academic and behavioral needs or students who may not be at-risk academically but require behavior support.

What are key considerations for selecting a behavior screener?

When selecting a behavioral screener, key considerations include the technical rigor and key implementation features of the tool. Prospective users should consider the following:

Classification Accuracy
Validity
Reliability
Statistical Bias
Sample Representativeness
Resources needed to administer to the screening tool in accordance with the resources available at the school (e.g., time, budget, training)

Why aren’t there more behavior screeners on the tools chart?

The purpose of the Behavior Screening Tools Chart is to provide an overview of the technical adequacy of each tool. The chart only includes tools for which evidence has been submitted for review by the vendor and reviewed by NCII’s Technical Review Committee. It does not reflect all tools in the field or all "high-quality" or "validated" tools—inclusion on the chart does not indicate approval or endorsement. If you are a vendor interested in submitting a tool for review, learn more about our call for submissions. If you are a practitioner interested in seeing a particular behavior screener on our chart, reach out to a vendor and let them know.

What about Office Discipline Referrals (ODRs) as a screener?

NCII conducted a review of ODRs for use on the behavior screening tools chart. Published studies, however, did not present data that mapped well onto established rating rubric standards. Therefore, NCII, along with the Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS), created a brief to offer considerations and recommendations for use of ODRs to make data-based decisions.