Advancing Whole-Child Screening in Schools: Initial Validation of the ESSY Screener

The goal of the ESSY Whole Child Screener is to comprehensively and efficiently assess child and contextual factors that affect students’ success in schools. This study evaluated the initial psychometric properties of the screener, its internal factor structure, internal consistency reliability, and teacher perceptions of usability and potential consequences of use. Two large U.S. samples of third, fourth, and fifth grade teachers rated their students on the screener ( n = 448 and 317). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted, and the final structure included five factors: Academic Skills, Behavior, Social and Emotional Well-Being, Physical Health, and Supports Outside of School. Scores evidenced strong reliability. All factors significantly correlated with each other, and magnitudes ranged from moderate to large. Within child and contextual items integrated across domains and several cross-loadings were allowed, which aligned with the whole child theoretical rationale of integrated domains that influence students’ functioning. Qualitative content analysis findings suggested overall positive perceptions of usability and potential positive and negative consequences to be considered.