The validity of using readiness tests for placing children in regular or 2-year kindergarten programs was studied in 9 Virginia school districts with a total enrollment of 17,662 in 1986-87. Four tests were evaluated; none were impressive predictors of performance on tests administered at the end of kindergarten. (SLD)

Describes the Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales, a standardized assessment for infants, toddlers and preschool children. It is designed to identify children at risk of developing a communication impairment and to establish a profile of functioning in the areas of communicative, social-affective, and symbolic abilities. (CR)

Asserts that, as identification of hearing loss in infancy becomes increasingly common due to universal newborn screening, early interventionists will need to forge links to health-care providers, to have specialized training in deafness and hearing loss, and to have expertise in providing services to very young children and to children with mild…

A study investigated the perspectives of 31 British adults with intellectual disabilities and 104 carers on their experiences, expectations, and opinions of a primary health care project designed for individuals with intellectual disabilities. Results found that the majority of the individuals with intellectual disabilities were satisfied with the…

This study surveyed routine language screening practices for infants and toddlers of 41 physicians in an urban and surrounding rural area. Findings indicated that all physician offices screened for language development with some using the Denver Developmental Scale and others using informal tools. Findings are discussed in the context of the…

This article provides a synthesis of recent literature on Asperger syndrome, a condition that has received little attention in American special education. The analysis addresses the syndrome's history, definition, differential diagnosis from other pervasive developmental disorders, screening procedures, and emerging educational interventions.…

Evaluation of the Early Screening Project in a Head Start classroom-wide mental health identification and intervention over a 12- week period found that eight children identified as being at high risk for emotional/behavioral disorders prior to intervention either significantly improved or maintained their pre-intervention functioning. No…

A study involving 335 normally achieving children and 88 children with learning disabilities or mild mental retardation attending prekindergarten or kindergarten found that three of ten tasks of a cognitive screening test provided the best classification: semantic information/visual, semantic information/verbal, and rhyming tasks (prekindergarten)…

Evaluated special needs referral system in an urban Head Start program. The Early Intervention Screening Profile completed by independent raters revealed that, in the first assessment, all referred children had speech/language problems, some also showing emotional or behavioral problems. Teacher-completed EISPs with a second sample identified over…

Notes that articulating existence and cause of referral biases is critical to more effective preschool services. Maintains that until high child poverty, exposure to violence, and shortage of safe and stimulating environments are addressed, escalating rates of serious child emotional/behavioral problems will continue. Asserts that we must question…

An article by Ellie Ashford condensed from School Board News (Jun 28, 2005) is presented in this article. Proponents of mental health screening point to stories to illustrate the benefits of screening seemingly healthy teenagers. Yet, opposition to mental health screening is growing, with one school health expert calling it "as controversial…

This study compares two instruments frequently used to assess risk for violence, the Violence Risk Appraisal Guide (VRAG) and the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV), in a large sample of civil psychiatric patients. Despite a strong bivariate relationship with community violence, the VRAG could not improve on the predictive validity…

Background: WILSTAAR comprises a programme for identifying and treating 8-10-month-old infants who are at risk of language and cognitive difficulties. It has been adopted by health trusts, and included in Sure Start intervention schemes, throughout the UK. This study addresses one of the main queries raised by critics of the programme, by…

The term "pilot study" has been used over the years to describe the evaluation of the many elements involved in deciding whether a proposed condition should be added to a newborn screening (NBS) panel, and until recently, was unilaterally used to describe the evaluation of the assay to be used before the condition was officially adopted by a state…

The present paper reviews the methods available for neurological or neuromotor evaluation at preschool age. General textbooks on pediatric neurology describe the neurological examination at preschool age in terms of the assessment of the evaluation of cranial nerves, muscle tone, muscle power, reflexes, and the presence of abnormal movements. They…