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Randy Kamphaus

Senior Advisor, External Affairs Ballmer Institute
Professor College of Education, School Psychology
College of Education, School Psychology
Phone: 541-346-1601
Office: 230 HEDCO Education Bldg

Biography

Professor Kamphaus is the Senior Advisor for External Affairs at the Ballmer Institute. He previously served as the acting executive director for the Ballmer Institute, Dean of the colleges of education at the University of Oregon and at Georgia State University, and as a distinguished research professor at the University of Georgia, his alma mater.
 
Professor Kamphaus’ research program has been devoted to improving the measurement of psychological (e.g., mental health, adaptive behavior) and educational constructs (e.g., mathematics, intelligence), and advancing assessment practice. His research topics include improvement of construct definition and item content validity, assessment of structural validity (e.g., factor structure), identification and mitigation of measurement bias (e.g., assessment of item, factor, and scalar invariance across gender and racial/ethnic population subgroups), development of screening and short forms, cross-linguistic/cultural adaptations of measures (e.g., Spain, Korea, China), and use of measures for public health surveillance. His work in the area of assessment and diagnostic practice includes development of new methods and guidance for differential diagnosis and assessment of co-morbidities for cases of learning disability, ADHD, Autism, and Intellectual Disability, and identification of typical patterns of behavioral and emotional adjustment of youth (e.g., person-centered analyses) and use of measures for primary and secondary prevention and public health surveillance to better address the behavioral and emotional needs of youth.  
 
He has authored or co-authored books, scientific journal articles, and book chapters on these topics, created psychological and educational tests, and holds one patent. The Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC; now in its third edition, with Emeritus Professor Cecil Reynolds of Texas A & M University) is his best-known and most widely used test development effort. 
 
His current work employs universal screening measures in schools to identify children with early indications of behavioral and emotional risk, provide surveillance information for deploying social-emotional learning and secondary preventive interventions, and monitoring children’s behavioral health status. Professor Kamphaus’ research has been funded by grants from the U.S. Department of Education and its Institute of Education Sciences. 
 
An elected Fellow of the American Psychological Association (APA), Professor Kamphaus is a licensed psychologist who has served in numerous professional leadership roles, including editor of School Psychology, member of the APA Council of Representatives and Board of Professional Affairs, and President of the Division of School Psychology.

Education

Ph.D., 1983, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
Major: Educational Psychology (APA Approved, School)
Major Professor: John D. Nolan

M.A., 1976, University of Illinois at Springfield, Springfield, IL
Major: General Psychology

B.A., 1974, Quincy University, Quincy, IL
Major: Psychology, Minor: Education (Secondary Social Studies Teaching Certificate)

Honors and Awards

2017    Honorary Professor of the Psychology Career, Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola, Lima, Peru

2015    Alumni of Distinction Award, Graduate School, University of Georgia

2013    Senior Scientist Award, Division of School Psychology, American Psychological Association

2008    Lifetime Alumni Achievement Award, College of Education, University of Georgia

2004    Distinguished Research Professorship, University of Georgia 

2003    Russell H. Yeany Research Award, University of Georgia, College of Education

Publications

Kim, J., Harrell-Williams, L.M., & Kamphaus, R.W. (2024). The Behavior Assessment System for Children, in J. L. Mihura (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Personality and Psychopathology Assessment, 2nd ed., https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190092689.013.37
 
Kamphaus, R. W., & Reynolds, C. R. (2021). Behavior Assessment System for Children – Third Edition (BASC-3): Behavioral and Emotional Screening System – College Form (BESS-COL).  Bloomington, MN: Pearson.  
 
Wang, J. H., Tan, T. X., Kamphaus, R. W., & Yi, Z. (2021). The BASC-3 Behavioral and Emotional Screening System Student Form: Evidence for a unidimensional interpretation among Chinese youth. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 43(4), 916–923. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-021-09902-2 
 
Kamphaus, R., & Walden, E. (2020). Intellectual disability. In E. A. Youngstrom, M. J. Prinstein, E. J. Mash, & R. Barkley (Eds.), Assessment of Disorders in Childhood and Adolescence (5th ed.) (pp. 358-373). New York, NY: Guilford Press.  
 

Kim, J., & Kamphaus, R.W. (2017). Investigation of Factor Structure and Measurement Invariance by Gender for the Behavioral and Emotional Screening System Among High School Students. Psychological Assessment29, 1-10. http://dx.doi.org.libproxy.uoregon.edu/10.1037/pas0000469

Bradstreet, L. E., Juechter, J. I., Kamphaus, R. W., Kerns, C. M., & Robins, D. L. (2017). Using the BASC-2 parent rating scales to screen for autism spectrum disorder in toddlers and preschool-aged children. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 45, 359-370. 

Dowdy, E., Harrell-Williams, L., Dever, B., Furlong, M., Moore, S., Raines, T., & Kamphaus, R.W. (in press). Predictive Validity of a Student Self-Report Screener of Behavioral and Emotional Risk in an Urban High School. School Psychology Review, 45, 2016, 458-476. 

Kamphaus, R. W., & Reynolds, C. R. (2015). Behavior Assessment System for Children – Third Edition (BASC-3): Behavioral and Emotional Screening System (BESS).  Bloomington, MN: Pearson.

Harrell-Williams, L. M.; Raines, T. C.; Kamphaus, R. W.; Dever, B. (2015) Psychometric analysis of the BASC–2 Behavioral and Emotional Screening System (BESS) student form: Results from high school student samples. Psychological Assessment, 27, 738-743. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pas0000079

Research

Professor Kamphaus is now focusing his research and development work on prevention of child mental health problems in schools with some of his former students and post-doctoral trainees Drs. Erin Dowdy (University of California - Santa Barbara), Bridget Dever (Lehigh University), Jihe Kim (Kennesaw State University) and Leigh Michelle Harrell-Williams (University of Memphis), and long-term colleague Dr. Christine DiStefano (University of South Carolina). he is designing and evaluating universal screening to detect children with behavioral and emotional risk, deliver evidence-based preventive interventions, and conducting research on the epidemiology of children with subsyndromal/subclinical symptomatology with the aim of informing policies and practices that will mitigate risk of developing a mental health disorder..