The Importance of Assessment in Supporting Bereaved Students

This chapter provides a framework allowing school-based mental health practitioners to assess and track characteristics of grief in bereaved students. Several types of assessments and tools (observations, structured interviews, and a range of rating scales) are discussed as a part of a three-tiered support framework to assess and monitor student progress over time. Current approaches to assisting bereaved students vary widely and may over-serve or under-serve students based on limited understanding of grief. There are also individual differences in the grieving process. School-based professionals must conduct assessments that enable them to identify individual needs and potential symptoms of complicated grief that may affect a child’s functioning at school.