SAEBRS and mySAEBRS Norms and Benchmarks

SAEBRS and mySAEBRS Norms and Benchmarks

In the summer of 2021, FastBridge launched new national norms for the two social emotional behavior (SEB) screeners, mySAEBRS and SAEBRS. 

Norms

Through careful consideration and consultation with the SAEBRS/mySAEBRS authors, the FastBridge research and product teams determined that the benefits of moving to a national norm-referenced model would provide users with better data to inform SEB supports. The national norms were derived from a national sample of students demographically matched to the U.S. school population by gender, race/ethnicity, and free and reduced lunch rates and provide the basis for defining high risk and some risk benchmarks. Based on analysis of the national sample, FastBridge researchers determined that the new norms could be the same for all grades. For this reason, there is one set of norms for SAEBRS and one set for mySAEBRS, and these are sufficiently accurate for all grades and seasonal screening periods. These norms can be found in the FastBridge system under the Training & Resources tab.

Benchmarks

The SAEBRS and mySAEBRS norms are the basis of the corresponding benchmarks. The benchmarks were created by identifying cut scores from the SAEBRS and mySAEBRS norms. These benchmarks have been defined as follows:

• Low risk: scores above the 16th national percentile 
• Some risk: scores from the 3rd to the 16th national percentile
• High risk: scores below the 3rd national percentile 

These cut scores represent approximately 1 and 2 standard deviations below the national mean, which is consistent with the approach used by other behavior screening tools. Our research suggests that these new scores still perform well in predicting risk for social and emotional behavior (SEB) problems. 

The benchmarks for the total score as well as the Social, Academic, and Behavior subscales are provided in the table below. It is important to note that a student’s score on the SAEBRS and mySAEBRS should never be used as the sole determinant of overall risk or intervention services. Instead, these scores should be examined by a team consisting of the student’s teacher(s), counselor, psychologist, administrative leader, and others who know the student well. SAEBRS and mySAEBRS must be compared with other sources of information about the student’s behaviors in order to confirm the presence of risk and need for support.

SAEBRS Benchmarks for High Risk, Some Risk, and Low Risk

mySAEBRS Benchmarks for High Risk, Some Risk, and Low Risk

The type of risk depends on the specific subscale. Here are descriptions of each type of risk: Students who are at risk for social behavior problems display behaviors that limit his/her ability to maintain age appropriate relationships with peers and adults. Students who are at risk for academic behavior problems display behaviors that limit his/her ability to be prepared for, participate in, and benefit from academic instruction. Students who are at risk for emotional behavior problems display actions that limit his/her ability to regulate internal states, adapt to change, and respond to stressful/challenging events. Teachers should always interpret the Total Behavior score first because it is the most reliable. Subscale scores should be interpreted only if the Total score indicates some or high risk. There is also an English version of mySAEBRS and information about it can be found here. Additional details about the SAEBRS and mySAEBRS norms and benchmarks are available in this technical report.