Evaluation of a German Language School-Based Universal Screening for Student Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Risk

The current study represents the first psychometric evaluation of an expanded version of the Integrated System Teacher Rating Form, which is a German language school-based universal screening measure initially developed to identify students with academic productivity problems and oppositional behavior. The measure was expanded to include assessment of internalizing problems experienced by children and youth. This initial study examines the factor structure of the expanded measure in a large sample of 2,416 German schoolchildren attending grades 1-6 in Western Germany. A total of four factors (Anxious/Depressed, Oppositional/Disruptive, Academic Productivity Problems/Disorganization, and Socially Withdrawn) were extracted via exploratory factor analysis. Collectively, the four factors accounted for over 52% of the variance in teacher ratings. Each factor demonstrated excellent internal consistency indicated by alpha and/or omega coefficients above 0.90. Results of the current study support continued investigation of the expanded ITRF-G for use in universal screening in German-speaking schools.