Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale-2nd Ed. (BERS-2)
Michael H. Epstein, EdD
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Designed to be used in school settings, mental health clinics, juvenile justice settings, and child welfare agencies, the BERS-2 has been widely adopted by local, state, and federal agencies for the evaluation of services outcomes.
- Purpose: Measure child strengths and competencies in ages 5-18.11 years
- Age Range: Preschool, Child
- Admin: Self- and informant report
- Time: 10 minutes
- Qualification: B
- Sample Reports: N/A
- Related Products:
- AAMR Adaptive Behavior Scale-School: 2nd Ed.
- Clinical Assessment of Behavior™
- Scale for Assessing Emotional Disturbance
The BERS-2 is a measure of personal strengths and competencies of children ages 5-18.11 years. Three perspectives can be measured: the child's self-report (Youth Rating Scale), a parent's observational report (the Parent Rating Scale), and the observations of third party observers, such as a teacher or other professional (Teacher Rating Scale). The BERS-2 examines several aspects of a child's strengths, such as interpersonal strengths, functioning in and at school, affective strength, intrapersonal strength, family involvement, and career strength. The BERS-2 can be used to identify children with limited behavioral and emotional strengths, identify a child's strengths and weaknesses for intervention, target goals for IEPs and/or treatment plans, document progress, and help collect data for research purposes.
The types of scores generated by the BERS-2 are raw scores, percentile ranks, subscale scaled scores, and BERS-2 Strength Index (i.e., overall score). Four sets of normative data are provided for the BERS-2--two sets for the Teacher Rating Scale (i.e., one set for children identified with emotional and behavioral disorders; one set for children not identified as having emotional and behavioral disorders), and one set each for the Youth Rating Scale and the Parent Rating Scale. The demographic characteristics of the normative samples are representative of the U.S. population, based on U.S. Census Bureau (2001) statistics.
Reliability and Validity
- Test-retest reliability was excellent for all three forms.
- Teacher Rating Scale Composite Strength Index (r = .99) with subscalers ranging from .85 to .99.
- Parent Rating Scale Composite Strength Index (r = .87) with subscale rs ranging from .82 to .92.
- Youth Rating Scale Composite Strength Index (r = .91) with subscale rs ranging from .84 to .91.
- Content validity, criterion validity, and construct validity all were examined and provide evidence that the BERS-2 is a valid measure of behavioral and emotional strength.