General Information

The Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale (BERS) helps to measure the personal strengths of children ages 5 through 18. It measures five aspects of a child's strength: interpersonal strength, family involvement, intrapersonal strength, school functioning, and affective strength. The scale can be completed by teachers, parents, counselors, or other persons knowledgeable about the child. Information from the BERS is useful in evaluating children for prereferral services and placing children for specialized services. It can be used in schools, mental health clinics, and child welfare agencies.

Number of Versions:	1
Version:	Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale
Author(s):	Michael Epstein and Jennifer Sharma
Date of Publication:	1998
Material(s) Needed for Test:	Instrument
Manual:	Available
Time to Administer:	10 minutes
Charge for one form or kit:	Yes

Purpose and Nature of Test

Construct(s) Measured:	Aggression
Population for which designed:	Age Range: 5 through 18 years old
Method of Administration:	Individual
Source of Information:	Parent, Teacher, Therapist
Subtests and Scores:	Interpersonal Strength, Family Involvement, Intrapersonal Strength, School Functioning, and Affective Strength
Number of Items:	52
Type of Scale:	Likert

Technical Evaluation

Norms: 

Sample Size:	2,176
Population:	Not reported by author(s).
Culture/ethnicity:	Conforms to US census data, 1990.
SES Level:	Conforms to US census data, 1990.

Reliability: 

Psychometric information:	Provided for Subscales.
The range of Test-Retest Value:	0.85 to 0.99
The range of Inter-rater reliability:	0.83 to 0.98
The range of Internal consistency:	0.77 to 0.99

Validity: 

 Criterion validity was assessed and found to be acceptable.

Practical Evaluation

Scoring Procedure:	Manual Scoring
Examiner Qualifications and Training Required:	None
Permission Required to Use Instrument:	Yes
If yes, by whom:	PRO-ED

Notes

Original Reference(s):
	Reviewed in the Buros Institute, Mental Measurements Yearbook. http://www.unl.edu/buros/

Contact

Organization:	PRO-ED
Address:	8700 Shoal Creek Boulevard
City:	Austin
State:	TX
Zip:	78757-6897
Phone:	(800) 897-3202
Fax:	(800) 397-7633
E-mail:	tmaddox@proedinc.com
Website:	hhttp://www.proedinc.

Last updated by Violence Institute of New Jersey:  February 2007