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The "Preschool Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale" (PreBERS) is a standardized, norm-referenced instrument that assesses emotional and behavioral strengths of preschool children. This study investigated whether the PreBERS four-factor structure (i.e., emotional regulation, school readiness, social confidence, and family involvement) could be replicated with an early childhood special education (ECSE) sample of children. Teachers who participated in the study rated a total of 1,103 preschool children with disabilities. Confirmatory factor analysis determined the extent to which the ECSE data fit the original four-factor PreBERS structure identified with the national normative sample. Results indicated that the four-factor structure demonstrated an acceptable fit with the ECSE sample. (Contains 3 tables and 1 figure.)

This article reports three studies that evaluated the test-retest and inter-rater reliability of the "Preschool Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale" (PreBERS) (Epstein & Synhorst, 2009). First, teachers rated 63 children receiving school services for disability on the PreBERS, with two ratings one month apart. Second, paraprofessionals rated the same children on the PreBERS, with two ratings one month apart. Third, teacher and paraprofessional ratings were compared for inter-rater reliability between these observers. Correlations were large to very large in each of these studies, indicating that the PreBERS is a stable measure across time and raters. Recommendations for use of the PreBERS with preschool children with disabilities as well as directions for future research are discussed. (Contains 3 tables.)

The purpose of the present study was to document the development and standardization of the "Preschool Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale" and to examine its factor structure, internal consistency, and criterion validity. Data from a nationally representative sample (N = 1,471) of preschool children with and without disabilities were collected. An exploratory factor analysis identified four factors: Emotional Regulation, School Readiness, Social Confidence, and Family Involvement. The subscales and total instrument appear remarkably stable and consistent (0.838 to 0.983). Age differences across 3-, 4-, and 5-year olds were small in magnitude, although girls were rated as possessing significantly more strengths than boys. Preschool children with disabilities were seen as having less emotional and behavioral strength than their peers without disabilities. The limitations and future research needs are discussed. (Contains 5 tables.)

The Preschool Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale (PreBERS) is a standardized, norm-referenced instrument that assesses the emotional and behavioral strengths of preschool children. Two studies that investigated the test-retest and inter-rater reliability of the PreBERS are reported. In the first study, teachers rated preschool children (N = 96) on two occasions with 1 month between ratings. Reliability coefficients for the four subscales and total score of the PreBERS were all at or above 0.86. In the second study teachers and paraprofessionals rated the same preschool children (N = 88). All of the correlations were over 0.72. In both studies the magnitude of correlations were large indicating that the PreBERS is a stable measure across time and raters. Based on the data the PreBERS appears to be a psychometrically sound instrument appropriate for use with preschool children. Recommendations for use with preschool children as well as future research are discussed.

Behavior rating scales are important tools in the process of assessing students' emotional and behavioral needs. Best practices in behavioral assessment dictate that the perspectives of multiple informants (e.g., teacher, parent, youth) should be considered. Overall, agreement between multiple informants is modest at best and is especially low between adult and youth respondents. Low cross-informant agreement has primarily been determined with behavior rating scales that are deficit- based; the scales almost exclusively measure behavior deficits and pathologies. Recently developed strength-based instruments examine the students' behavioral and emotional strengths and competencies. Cross-informant agreement, however, has not been examined with most strength-based scales. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the cross-informant agreement between parents and youth on the Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale-2 (BERS-2), a standardized instrument that assesses children's emotional and behavioral strengths. The results of this study suggest that the BERS-2 possesses moderate to high cross-informant agreement with coefficients ranging from .50 to .63.

Behavior rating scales are important tools in the process of assessing students' emotional and behavioral needs. Best practices in behavioral assessment dictate that the perspectives of multiple informants (e.g., teacher, parent, youth) should be considered. Overall, agreement between multiple informants is modest at best and is especially low between adult and youth respondents. Low cross-informant agreement has primarily been determined with behavior rating scales that are deficitbased; the scales almost exclusively measure behavior deficits and pathologies. Recently developed strength-based instruments examine the students' behavioral and emotional strengths and competencies. Cross-informant agreement, however, has not been examined with most strength-based scales. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the cross-informant agreement between parents and youth on the Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale-2 (BERS-2), a standardized instrument that assesses children's emotional and behavioral strengths. The results of this study suggest that the BERS-2 possesses moderate to high cross-informant agreement with coefficients ranging from .50 to .63.