First-Grade Screening Test scores of 72 kindergarten children were compared with end-of-year kindergarten performance and midyear achievement testing in first grade. Results suggested moderate predictive utility. Strong relationships with concept-learning and direction-following tasks indicated that the test's construct validity needs to be…

Four hundred eighty-six preschool children were screened with the Denver Developmental Screening Test (DDST) and the Preschool Language Scale (PLS). Children who failed the screening were referred for a formal language assessment. Results indicated that the DDST is slightly more effective than the PLS in identifying preschool children who need…

Children (n=132), ages 1-16, were diagnosed for autism using the criteria in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10), Childhood Autism Rating Scale, Autistic Behavior Checklist, and third and fourth editions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). Agreement of the DSM-IV and ICD-10 with the other…

This study compared students diagnosed with learning disabilities (n=2,053) and students without learning disabilities (n=2,200) on the Learning Disability Index (LDI). Subsamples of specific reading and math disabilities permitted further assessment. Analysis indicated the LDI resulted in a correct diagnostic decision only 55 to 64 percent of the…

The study investigated the effectiveness of three instruments in discriminating 20 autistic from 20 trainable mentally retarded children (ages 3-12): Autism Screening Instrument for Educational Planning (ASIEP), Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS), and Diagnostic Checklist for Behavior Disordered Children. The CARS and ASIEP provided for a…

Advantages and disadvantages of behavior rating scales and observation systems are presented, followed by preliminary validity data for the Mayes Hyperactivity Observation System, a clinically feasible system to identify preschool children with both Attention Deficit Disorder and Hyperactivity. Hyperactive and normal children were identified with…

Three standardized language assessment measures (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised, Test of Early Language Development, and the Preschool Language Scale) were individually administered to 25 nonreferred, White, middle-class preschoolers. Correlations among the three measures were statistically significant suggesting an interrelationship of…

Tested the effectiveness of the Stanford Binet Intelligence Test and the Bayley Scales of Infant Development in assessing the development of 30 preschool children. Demonstrated that encountering children ages 18-23 months whose performance is not scorable by standard methods for either test is a relatively frequent occurrence. (JAC)

Study evaluated sensitivity of two independent rapid naming tests--Naming Pictured Objects and Producing Names on Confrontation--in differentiating 16 children (7 and 8 years old) with language and learning disabilities from 16 age peers with normal language development and academic achievement. The interrelationship between total naming time and…

A shortened form of the Northwestern Syntax Screening Test (NSST)--used to identify language impaired children--was developed and cross-validated with the original test. The shortened version, taking approximately 10 minutes to administer, was normed in six-month intervals, as opposed to the one-year intervals of the original NSST. (Author/DLS)

The study was designed to determine the degree of agreement between standardized tests of language development and clinical judgment. The Test of Auditory Comprehension of Language (TACL), the Carrow Elicited Language Inventory (CELI), and the Sequenced Inventory of Communication Development (SICD) were used. (Author)

Concurrent validity of the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test (K-BIT) with the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition (WISC-III) was evaluated. Both measures were administered to 65 children (ages 6-7). Results suggest caution against using the K-BIT exclusively for placement and diagnostic purposes with young children with reading…

Two studies evaluated the 10-question Nylander questionnaire as a screening test for autism among adults in British psychiatric hospitals. Both studies found high inter-rater reliability and no false negatives, but the studies resulted in an unacceptably high rate of false positives. (Contains 3 references.) (DB)

Parent and teacher ratings of 141 middle-school children were collected using the Revised Behavior Problem Checklist. Pearson correlation coefficients indicated a low degree of relationship between parent and teacher ratings. The lack of agreement in identifying children as either mildly deviant or highly deviant suggests rating subjectivity.…

Two groups (learning disabled and normal) of 15 children were administered the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery-Children's Revision and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised. Considering abnormal or borderline profiles as indicative of learning disability was 93.3 percent accurate in discriminating between groups.…