Student Perceptions of a Whole Child School Screening Instrument: An Initial Step in Attending to Consequential Validity

Abstract Existing educational assessments have typically been developed without appropriate attention to the intended and unintended consequences of measure implementation and interpretation. We are developing the Expanding Screening to Support Youth (ESSY) Whole Child Screener using a mixed methods approach that attends to the intended and unintended consequences of measure use (i.e., consequential validity) from the outset of measure development. The ESSY Whole Child Screener has been designed for teacher-report on third, fourth, and fifth grade students. The initial draft includes items to assess both within-child domains (e.g., academics, health) and contextual domains (e.g., experiences in the home, school, and community). In this qualitative study, we interviewed nine students in third, fourth, and fifth grade to understand their perceptions of the topics addressed in the ESSY Whole Child Screener, such as areas they believe influence their school success, their comfort sharing that information with teachers, and their desire for teacher support in each domain. Three themes emerged to describe student perceptions: (1) the majority of domains are perceived as influencing school success, (2) students’ desire to share information with teachers is influenced by past experiences, perceived outcomes, and perceptions of appropriateness, and (3) students generally want teacher support to build their own skills, but are more hesitant about relational or contextual support. In light of these findings, we discuss the potential implications for consequential validity as well as considerations for next steps in measure revision and testing.