A major challenge to promoting effective early science and engineering education is the lack of reliable and validated assessments that align with current educational guidelines for science and engineering. Existing early science and engineering assessments either cover a narrow range of concepts and practices and/or are not designed in a way to…

The Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-Fourth Edition: Canadian (WPPSI-IVCDN; Wechsler, 2012), published by NCS Pearson, is a newly updated, individually administered measure of cognitive intelligence for children aged 2:6 through 7:7. Suitable for educational, clinical, and research settings, the purposes of the WPPSI-IVCDN are…

The reliabilities of two sociometric tests were compared when administered to three and four-year olds. The full-rank order instrument, the Paired-Comparisons Sociometric Test (PCST), was found to have greater test-retest reliability than the partial-rank order test, the Picture Sociometric Interview (PSI). (GDC)

The Starkweather Social Conformity Test is a research instrument designed to measure conforming and nonconforming behavior by providing the young child with opportunities to make choices in a situation in which he can follow a model or respond freely according to his own preferences. The test discriminates between compulsive conformists or…

The article describes the preschool screening test, "Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning" (DIAL), and reviews research findings on the test from 1973 through 1978. It is concluded that the DIAL is maintaining relatively high levels of criterion-related validity (both concurrent and predictive) when compared to other…

Stability of K-ABC (Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children) performance of 33 nonhandicapped and 53 at-risk preschool children was examined over a 9- to 12-month period. A high level of stability for global scale scores as well as subtest scores was indicated for both groups of children. (PCB)

Research supports the reliability and validity of the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities (MSCA); but its concurrent validity with conventional intelligence tests suggests that the McCarthy General Cognitive Index and Intelligence Quotient are not comparable. The MCSA eliminates certain weaknesses found in similar tests: the Stanford-Binet and…

This study was undertaken to determine reliability and validity estimates for a newly developed preschool inventory of cognitive functioning which provides many advantages over traditionally utilized measures. A predominantly pictorial stimulus-psychomotor response set was the format for the test. The test consisted of a series of 61 items divided…

Stability of performance on the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) and the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale: Fourth Edition (S-B:4) over a 1-year interval was examined with a sample of 28 nonhandicapped preschoolers. Each child was administered both tests in counterbalanced order and retested in 1 year with either the K-ABC or the…

Described is the development and revision over a 3-year period of the Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning (DIAL), a screening test to identify pre-kindergarten children with learning disabilities. The DIAL is said to provide for gross motor, fine motor, cognitive, and communications assessment of large groups of children. Among…

The effects of play-like, verbal-feedback, and nonverbal-feedback testing conditions on three creative ability measures and the reliabilities of those measures were studied using 175 lower-class preschool children. The creativity measures were found to be largely unaffected by variations in testing conditions; but at the same time, different forms…

Over a 2-year period, stability of performance on the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children of 25 nonhandicapped preschool children was examined. Overall, results indicated a high level of stability for both global scale scores and subtest scores. Less stability was indicated for performance patterns and subtest strengths and weaknesses. (PCB)

Since 1975, the Chicago public schools have been conducting ongoing research and development related to the identification and remediation of prekindergarten children with potential learning problems. The present study describes initial efforts toward the creation of a longitudinal data base aimed at determining (1) prekindergarten-age…