Level I -

Universal Screening.

The first level is used with parents or teachers to determine if there are concerns about a child or a group of children and how serious those concern might be. It consists of 10 items each asking about a specific problem that may be of concern at home or in the early care and education setting. These problems include the following:

1. Persistent misbehavior

2. Aggression

3. Bad temper

4. Fearfulness

5. Sadness

6. Poor expressive language

7. Poor receptive language

8. Impulsivity

9. Over-activity

10. Emotional fragility

11. Other problems

Level I includes 7 additional items that help to estimate the severity of the concern. It is completed by persons such as parents or early care provider who have had the opportunity to interact with and observe the child on a regular basis. The level I screen Problem Severity- Several ratings are used to gauge the severity or seriousness of a specific behavioral or emotional problem parents report for a child. Severity is defined in terms of :

· Duration of the problem, i.e. how long the problem has existed

· Impairment, the degree of life disruption the problem causes

· Pervasiveness of the problem- in how many different settings does it occur,.

· Comparative standard: how the child compares to other children

· Plasticity- Is it responsive to past interventions, is it getting worse

· Exacerbation: whether the problem has gotten worse over time

· Requires professional intervention. whether or not it was serious enough to require professional help to address.

It takes less than 5 minutes for most parents to complete. As a universal screen, it can be administered to parents of all as part of the registration process at a center.