Systematic screening for social, emotional, and behavioral concerns (SEBC) identifies at-risk students and provides information to guide interventions that may prevent negative outcomes (Glover & Albers, 2006; Kauffman, 1999; Severson, Walker, Hope-Dolittle, Katochwill, & Gresham, 2007). However, the screening process may be influenced by the gender of the student (Young, Sabbah, Young, Reiser, & Richardson, 2010). This study further examined the influence of student gender on screening by assessing the congruency of gates one and two of a screening process based on student gender. Participants included 59 middle school teachers who nominated at-risk students on the Teacher Nomination Form (TNF; Davis, 2012) and then completed the Behavior Assessment System for Children, Behavioral and Emotional Screening System (BASC-2 BESS; Kamphaus & Reynolds, 2007) on each nominated student. A two-tailed z-score was calculated to see if the TNF predicted BASC-2 BESS T-scores better for one gender over the other. A z score of -0.63 (p > .05) was obtained in the internalizing category and a z score of 0.39 (p > .05) was obtained in the externalizing category; the difference between correlation coefficients for males and females was not statistically significant. While more males were nominated than females in both the internalizing and externalizing categories, the screening instrument does not measure differently for males and females according to the data analysis provided here. Disproportionate identification of males and females in the screening process may be explained by other factors that could be the focus of additional research.

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Emotional and Behavioral Disorders (EBD) directly influence learning, relationships, mood, and overall scholastic experiences. Research provides evidence that early intervention and prevention efforts can address the needs of students with EBD (Allen-DeBoer, Malmgren, & Glass, 2006; Cook, et al. 2008; Lien-Thorne & Kamps, 2005; Regan, Mastropieri, & Scruggs, 2005; Rivera, Al-Otiba, & Koorland, 2006), but in order to identify these at-risk youth, a screening system is needed to broadly consider Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Concerns (SEBC).This dissertation evaluated the alignment of a teacher nomination process (Teacher Nomination Form (TNF)) and a normative screener of EBD risk (BASC-2 Behavioral and Emotional Screening System (BESS), Kamphaus & Reynolds, 2007). Teacher nominations and rankings were significantly correlated to the BESS in the internalizing (.177), externalizing (.246), and combined categories (.304) groups. Multiple teacher nominations were not significantly related to BESS scores. Social validity evidence was gathered and interpreted.