Jaspers- van der Maten, Marloes

Early identification of social, emotional, and behavioural difficulties (SEBDs) is essential to support pupils with SEBDs in regular education and to reduce the risk of negative outcomes for these children. Primary schools are considered ideal settings to identify SEBDs and to access support. Therefore, school-based approaches to early identification and (indicated) prevention have increasingly gained attention. Schools and municipalities are looking for proper ways to put such approaches into practice. Differences in approaches may indicate that schools and support providers are responsive to the needs of their populations. At the same time, differences in the problems identified and support provided may be due to differences in school policies, identification practices or bias. This study examines how policies and practices regarding early SEBD identification and support differ between schools, approaches and professionals. Furthermore, it examines the implications that any differences in the implementation may have for the effectiveness of early identification of SEBDs in general and for certain groups of children or certain types of problems in particular.

Prof. dr. Ron Scholte,  dr. Els Rommes