Analyzes the uses and abuses of the Gesell School Readiness Screening Tests and similar tests. First, discusses developmental screening and readiness tests, then focuses on the Gesell tests, specifically addressing their validity and questioning their current uses. Discusses implications of using readiness tests for assigning children to…

Discusses the problem of how to record the progress of young children in nursery schools and suggests several benefits of recordkeeping. Briefly reviews existing tests, scales, and assessment methods. Describes a new guide to assessment developed at the University of Keele (England) and its evaluation in an initial study. (MF)

Illustrates the utility of nonreactive measures with preschool children in a variety of contexts. Offers a rationale for using nonreactive and observational tests and interview measures. Discusses four types of nonreactive measures and their limitations. (Author/BB)

This document provides an annotated list of early childhood screening and assessment instruments in common use by early childhood assessment specialists or listed in current catalogs of major test publishers. No evaluation of instruments on technical or practical merit is included; inclusion or exclusion of a particular instrument should not be…

The goal of Minnesota's Early Childhood Screening (ECS) program is to identify normal aspects of a child's health and development while sorting out potential problems that need further evaluation. In addition, all parents are linked to resources in the school and community to enhance their child's development and their own parenting skills. This…

This guide presents ratings of assessment instruments for use by speech-language pathologists with preschool students. Tests are reviewed in alphabetical order on forms filled out by practicing speech-language pathologists, including data on speech components covered by each test, age range, factors of norms where norms are used, reliability,…

The Children's Language Institute Preschool Placement Test (CLIPPT) identifies children, aged 2.6 to 4 years, with mild to moderate language/learning deficits, to determine which children would benefit from a language intervention preschool program. The test is presented in three sections: (1) the Informational Manual which provides theoretical…

This report presents the results of a data analysis designed to determine (1) the relationship of measures of self-esteem and achievement motivation obtained in the Head Start year, kindergarten, and first grade to reading and mathematics achievement in the third grade, and (2) whether such measures can improve predictions made solely from a…

Prepared for the White House Conference on Children (December 1970), this booklet reports a center for early development and education in Little Rock, Arkansas--one of 34 promising programs on childhood education. The Kramer School is a combined education and day care project serving children from six months to 12 years; it includes a…

The Children's Auditory Discrimination Inventory (CADI) was used in the longitudinal study to evaluate the child's ability to identify, between two pictures that have been given oral word equivalents, the picture that represents the orally presented stimulus word. The task, which takes 10 minutes, uses 38 cards with two pictures on each and 38…

The Berry Developmental Test of Visual Motor Integration was devised as a measure of the degree to which visual perception and motor behavior are integrated in young children, measured by the copying of geometric forms. In this study, 64 three-year-old children were tested individually to investigate (1) whether there is a correlation between…

The Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children and Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI) were administered to Anglo- and Mexican-American children aged four to six. Both scales measured similar, but not identical, intellectual and achievement factors, indicating concurrent validity. Anglo children scored higher on WPPSI verbal…

To predict an at-risk group of kindergarten students, structured input from 34 parents was obtained, in addition to results of a standardized screening instrument. Results indicated that both parents' input and standardized tests contributed uniquely to the early identification of children at risk for not achieving in school. (Author/JDD)

A model-testing approach for evaluating the stability of item response theory item parameter estimates (IPEs) in a pretest-posttest design is illustrated. Nineteen items from the Head Start Measures Battery were used. A moderately high degree of stability in the IPEs for 5,510 children assessed on 2 occasions was found. (TJH)

As concern about the developmental progress of preschoolers has increased, the number of assessment instruments available has expanded. This paper reviews recent advances in early childhood assessment and evaluation, and describes several screening and assessment instruments. Varying information is presented for each test, but may include a…