By Nicole Hevener, Superintendent
Schools have so many large terms that are often turned into a big string of letters and can cause much confusion. You may have heard some of these acronyms. You may have heard your child talk about SAEBRS, or you may have heard a teacher or administrator use the term “MTSS.” Let’s talk about both.
SAEBRS stands for Social, Academic, and Emotional Behavior Risk Screener that is provided by Renaissance. This evidence-based tool helps educators identify early signs of students’ social-emotional needs so that supports can be put in place quickly and effectively. According to Renaissance, SAEBRS is one of the only screeners meeting the National Center on Intensive Intervention’s psychometric criteria for reliability, validity, and diagnostic accuracy proving to be a trustworthy tool. Students in grades 2-12 complete a self-assessment (mySAEBRS) that takes them three to five minutes; teachers also complete a rating on each student. The three areas are social, academic, and emotional behavior. Student self-assess 19 items rated on a scale from “Never” to “Almost Always” to reflect behavior in the past 30 days.
Renaissance states that by collecting data approximately three times a year (fall, winter, and spring), schools can detect early signs of emotional or behavioral struggles, monitor progress over time, adjust supports, and ensure access to various services. The data from the survey may provide guidance on decisions involving classroom strategies, small-group discussions, additional academic support, or other interventions for specific social-emotional skills.
Student support is provided by school counselors, classroom teachers, Community in Schools coordinators, interventionists, and caring adults throughout the building. SAEBRS provides a means for student well-being to be supported and encourages a thriving environment through MTSS (Multi-Tiered System of Supports).
MTSS is a tiered system of supports with the first tier providing support for all students. Examples are caring adults building relationships with students and offering a positive school environment. In tier two, help is provided for some students; this would most likely be in small groups. Support is targeted but not intense. With tier three, support is provided to only a few students and is more individualized. With SAEBRS data results, this may be one-on-one guidance with the school counselor. SAEBRS paired with MTSS allows schools to spot challenges early, provide resources and support for each child’s needs, and is based on the teamwork of the teachers, administrators, counselors and families.
The second window of completion for SAEBRS is Jan. 28 through Feb. 3.
If you have any questions about SAEBRS, please feel free to contact your student’s school counselor, teacher, or principal. Our goal is for all students to feel safe, connected and ready to learn.
