Universal Screening in Educational Settings: Evidence-Based Decision Making for Schools

Researchers have found that 74% of students with reading difficulties in third grade continue to have trouble reading in high school. Likewise, children with behavioral difficulties at an early age have an increased risk for school maladjustment and antisocial activity. Universal screening identifies students for help before difficulties become too pervasive.

This book provides evidence-based guidance for selecting, developing, implementing, and interpreting universal screening instruments in educational settings. Educational psychology experts thoroughly explore psychometric issues, fit with models of education like response-to-invervention and multi-gating, and implementation issues like teacher training, parental consent, technology, budgets, and school characteristic.

Designed to be a cost-effective and brief assessment of all students, universal screening not only identifies those in need of prevention and early intervention services but also helps determine whether core educational programs are meeting student's needs.

This book provides examples and describes contexts in which screening is used not to label a problem but instead to create an opportunity for change.

Ryan J. Kettler, PhD, is an assistant professor of school psychology in the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. He earned his doctorate in educational psychology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 2005. Dr. Kettler's research on data-based decision making in education has been funded externally and has yielded more than 40 publications. He is currently coprincipal investigator of the School System Improvement Project, funded by the U.S. Department of Education, as well as the website editor of the research registry of the Society for the Study of School Psychology.
 
Todd A. Glover, PhD, is a research associate professor at the Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. His research and publications focus on school-based screening, academic and behavioral supports for students at risk, and response to intervention. Dr. Glover is the principal or coprincipal investigator of ongoing grant projects funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Institute for Education Sciences and the Nebraska Department of Education. He is also director of research operations for the National Center for Research on Rural Education.
 
Craig A. Albers, PhD, is an associate professor of educational psychology in the School Psychology Program and is the chairperson of the Interdisciplinary Prevention and Intervention Sciences Program at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He earned his doctorate in educational psychology at Arizona State University in 2002. Dr. Albers has received multiple U.S. Department of Education and Institute of Education Sciences research and training grants associated with implementation of response-to-intervention models. He is a member of the Society for the Study of School Psychology and serves as an associate editor for the Journal of School Psychology.
 
Kelly A. Feeney-Kettler, PhD, is a consultant in educational psychology in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. She earned her doctorate in educational psychology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 2008. Dr. Feeney-Kettler developed the Preschool Behavior Screening System to promote the early identification of children at risk for mental health problems. She was recognized by APA's Division 16 (School Psychology) with an outstanding dissertation award. She also has been recognized as an Early Career Scholar by the Society for the Study of School Psychology.