Middle School WARNS

The Washington Assessment of Risks and Needs of Students, Middle School Version (msWARNS) is a 30-item student self-report instrument designed to provide information to school personnel relevant to reducing unexcused school absenteeism and address discipline problems among students engaged in misconduct.

The instrument is modeled after the high school version of the WARNS, which was developed for the same purposes and comprised of a somewhat different set of items reflecting the different issues and concerns that present themselves in high school compared to middle school.

The items presented below are organized according to the six domains. Each item is responded to on a three-point scale (0 = Never, not much, 1 = Sometimes 2 = Always, a lot).

1. Aggression-defiance (7 items)
   1. I get into fights.
   2. I steal or break things on purpose.
   3. I lie to people.
   4. I do things that could get me arrested.
   5. I lose my temper easily.
   6. I get violent when I am mad.
   7. I pick on or tease other kids.
2. Depression-anxiety (7 items)
   1. Nothing cheers me up.
   2. I worry a lot about things.
   3. I feel sad or unhappy.
   4. I have trouble sleeping, or sleep too much.
   5. I get nervous.
   6. I do fun things (r).
   7. Even when I’m not sick, I don’t feel like eating.
3. Peer deviance (5 items)
   1. My friends get into fights.
   2. My friends steal or break things.
   3. My friends have been arrested.
   4. My friends get into trouble at school.
   5. My friends stay out late at night.
   6. My friends break the rules at home or school.
4. Substance abuse (6 items)
   1. I use tobacco products.
   2. I use pot/weed/marijuana.
   3. I have experimented with drugs.
   4. I have used alcohol (beer/wine/liquor).
   5. I get high or drunk from drugs or alcohol.
5. Family Problems (7 items)
   1. I like my parents (r).
   2. I do fun things with my parents (r).
   3. I follow the rules at home (r).
   4. I disobey my curfew.
   5. I get intro trouble at home.
   6. I yell at my parents.
   7. My parents get mad at me.
6. School Problems (7 items)
   1. I like school.
   2. I like my teachers (r).
   3. My classes are interesting (r).
   4. I get good grades at school (r).
   5. I learn important things at school (r).
   6. I skip or cut class.
   7. I get intro trouble at school.

(r) indicates reverse-scored items.

 While evidence for validity, reliability, and score interpretation have been obtained for the high school version of the instrument (George et al., 2015), much less is known about the msWARNS with respect to these important attributes of the assessment. That is, the msWARNS is currently under development and data on its reliability, validity, and interpretability of scores is being collected.

Based on the combination of extrapolations for the high school instrument and pilot data collected with the help of several middle school principals and school-engaged juvenile court truancy officers, we believe the msWARNS can be useful with respect to evaluation and intervention planning for purposes of reducing truancy for middle school students.

The item set of the msWARNS differs somewhat from that of the high school version of the WARNS to reflect differences in the issues facing students during these developmental epochs. The items of the msWARNS have been reviewed by over 50 professional educators – including middle school principals, teachers, and counselors — to ensure their age-appropriateness. Feedback from these professionals is supportive with regard to the required reading level and their subject matter content.

The msWARNS has not been validated with a normative sample. Therefore, we do not have norm-based cutoffs to determine how scores relate to percentile scores. However, with the help of two middle school principals working in the Spokane Public Schools, we have identified provisional cutoffs for low-risk, medium-risk, and high-risk for each of the six domains. These cutoffs were established based on the professional judgement of these principals. They should be viewed as useful guidelines, and not as definitive markers of risk or functioning. Of course, this type of warning even applies to normative cut-off scores because risks, needs, normality, and psychopathology are not dichotomous constructs but rather each exists on a continuum. In sum, msWARNS scores are designed to provide a starting point for evaluating students, and for contributing to the search for the risks that may lead to truancy and delinquency, and for considering individualized intervention options. Scores should be used in the context of other information about students and not relied upon, solely, for making high stakes decisions about interventions or placements for students.

The instrument can be accessed through WSU’s Learning and Performance Research Center (LPRC) for users who have completed the WARNS User Agreement. Please click on the Manuals and Forms link in the menu on the left.