The Student Risk Screening Scale: Exploring Dimensionality and Differential Item Functioning

Screening of students at risk for antisocial behaviors in school is an essential step in the implementation of evidence-based supports for academic, behavioral, and social domains at the first sign of concern. This study examined the measurement properties of a free-access systematic behavior screening tool: the Student Risk Screening Scale (Drummond, 1994). Ratings on 7,264 students from elementary to high school were subjected to a series of graded response models. Results indicated this scale is sensitive in average and above-average ranges of the distribution of behavior problems. Statistical tests for the presence of differential item functioning (DIF) indicated that all 7 items showed DIF across age, gender, and presence/absence of a special education designation. However, effect size indices for DIF revealed the size of differences found across groups to be, with few exceptions, trivial. Results demonstrate the importance of computing effect size indices when estimating DIF in large-sample studies.