Episode 6: Leading the Way: Advancing Behavioral Health Screening with the BIMAS-2

This week on the Boston School Psychs Podcast, we’re joined by Dr. Achilles Bardos and Dr. Carolyn Hall for an insightful discussion about universal behavioral health screening and its impact on student wellbeing.Dr. Bardos, CEO and founding member of Edumetrisis, LLC, and co-developer of the Behavior Intervention Monitoring Assessment System (BIMAS-2), shares the story behind the tool’s development and how it has evolved over more than three decades to support prevention, progress monitoring, and data-driven decision-making. He explains how integrating technology into behavioral assessment has transformed how schools nationwide identify and support students’ social-emotional needs.Dr. Hall, Program Director for Boston Public Schools’ Comprehensive Behavioral Health Model (CBHM), describes how BPS became one of the first large districts in the country to adopt universal behavioral health screening, at a time when only about five percent of schools were doing so. She highlights how the district piloted multiple screeners before selecting the BIMAS-2, and how school psychologists now help lead implementation, data analysis, and follow-up supports across schools.Together, they discuss how the collaboration between Edumetrisis and BPS has strengthened prevention systems, enhanced equity in identifying student needs, and influenced national practice. They also reflect on the real-world impact of screening, from guiding multi-tiered supports to saving lives.