The MABC-2 Checklist is a method designed preferentially for teachers and parents to evaluate how well a child performs movement skills within school, family and community settings. It serves as screening tool for the impact of motor skills deficits in children on activities of daily living, academic or school performance, leisure and play. This…

Assessment is fundamental to school psychology, but its purpose has shifted from making predictions about children to improving outcomes for children. This commentary on the special issue focuses on screening and progress-monitoring decisions that can be used to solve student problems. We outline several psychometric and practical issues that…

Los Angeles County's experience, write Christina Altmayer and Barbara Andrade DuBransky, shows how a universal offer of assistance can establish a foundation on which public and private agencies can plan meaningful systemic reform--and spark incentives for greater, more effective investments in services directed to vulnerable families. The…

There is a critical need to identify primary level students experiencing difficulties in mathematics to provide immediate and targeted instruction that remediates their deficits. However, most early math screening instruments focus only on the concept of number, resulting in inadequate and incomplete information for teachers to design intervention…

Recent understanding of education and human development recognises the importance of psychosocial factors, particularly personal resiliency, in the academic success of children and youth. This article presents the examination of resiliency within school settings for the purpose of preventive screening, intervention and outcomes assessment. The…

For children age birth to five, physical, cognitive, linguistic, and social-emotional growth and development occur at a rapid pace. While all children in this age range may not reach developmental milestones (e.g., smiling, saying first words, taking first steps) at the same time, development that does not happen within an expected timeframe can…

The importance of spatial ability for success in a variety of domains, particularly in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), is widely acknowledged. Yet, students with high spatial ability are rarely identified, as Talent Searches for academically talented students focus on identifying high mathematical and verbal abilities.…

This article addresses measurement issues in the examination of resiliency within school settings. The Resiliency Scales for Children and Adolescents is described as an example of an instrument developed specifically for this purpose. This description identifies developmentally sound factors of personal resiliency that are relevant for youth in…

There has been a dramatic worldwide increase in reported cases of autism over the past decade. Autism is much more prevalent than previously thought, especially when viewed as a spectrum of disorders (autism spectrum disorders; ASD). School-based professionals are now more likely to be asked to participate in the screening and identification of…

Schools often administer brief intelligence tests as the first step in the identification of students who are cognitively gifted. However, brief measures are often used without consideration of underlying constructs or the psychometric properties of the measures and without regard to the links between screening decisions and educational…

In this "FastFacts," a state asks the Center on Enhancing Early Learning Outcomes (CEELO) to recommend experts in the field of assessing young children who are English Language Learners (ELL) to train administrators and psychologists working in district preschool programs for young children with special needs? This is particularly…

The 2007 reauthorization of Head Start requires Head Start programs to use child assessments and developmental screeners that are developmentally, linguistically, and culturally appropriate, as well as valid and reliable in the language in which they are used. This can be a challenge, since very few child assessment tools are developed or tested…

In recent years, there has been a growing emphasis on the mental health and social and behavioral developmental needs of very young children. In response, state administrators and local providers of early intervention and preschool programs have worked to strengthen their screening and assessment of children's social and emotional development. The…

The "World Report on Children and Violence", (Pinheiro, 2006) was produced at the request of the UN Secretary General and the UN General Assembly. This report recommended improvement in research on child abuse. ISPCAN representatives took this charge and developed 3 new instruments. We describe this background and introduce three new measures…

The objectives of this article are, first, to provide a brief review of screening and assessment of adolescents substance use and substance use disorders; second, to describe the work done with the Teen Addiction Severity Index (T-ASI) in different countries; and third, to address challenges and opportunities in order to improve international…