Building a better behavior progress monitoring tool using maximally efficient items.

Area of Science:

• Educational Psychology
• Psychometrics
• Child and School Psychology

Background:

• Universal screening tools are crucial for identifying students needing behavioral support.
• Brief Behavior Rating Scales (BBRSs) are needed for efficient progress monitoring.
• Item Response Theory (IRT) offers advanced psychometric methods for scale development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To derive Sets of Maximally Efficient Items (SMI) for a BBRS using IRT.
• To evaluate the change sensitivity of these items for progress monitoring.
• To assess the psychometric properties of brief scales for social, academic, and emotional behaviors.

Main Methods:

• Item Response Theory (IRT) analysis was applied to data from over 24,000 students (K-12).
• Maximal efficiency and psychometric informativeness of items were evaluated.
• Change sensitivity analyses were conducted on a subsample of 774 students.

Main Results:

• Three items from each SAEBRS subscale (Social, Academic, Emotional Behavior) were identified as maximally efficient.
• Evidence supports the development of brief, 3-item BBRSs for progress monitoring.
• The identified items demonstrated psychometric informativeness and change sensitivity.

Conclusions:

• Brief, 3-item BBRSs derived via IRT can be psychometrically sound for screening and progress monitoring.
• Further research is needed to confirm the impact of BBRS use on meaningful student change.
• Investigating effectiveness across diverse demographic subgroups is essential.