The Diagnostic Interview for Children and Adolescents, the Reiss Screen for Maladaptive Behavior, and the Self-Report Depression Questionnaire were completed for 38 adults with mild/moderate mental retardation, half of whom had relatively high and half had relatively low depression screening scores. Association among measures was generally low,…

Describes the Screening and Evaluation Project (SEP), a longitudinal study examining the range of problems in 167 children entering protective custody in Sacramento, California, for reasons of abuse or neglect. Found that 68% of the children were at risk according to one or more of the four standardized assessment instruments that measured…

Data are considered for 152 children (ages 2 months to 6 years) who underwent brief developmental evaluation and referrals in response to parents' concerns. Members of a multidisciplinary team simultaneously observed and interacted with the children in an arena setting. Data largely confirmed parents' perceptions of their children's development.…

Information about family background and birth history was evaluated with respect to its power to predict speech language status in 662 preschool children. A set of risk criteria was found to accurately predict 55 percent of those children with poor communication skills and 76 percent of those with normal communication development. (Author/DB)

This study, involving 48 children and adolescents with Down's syndrome, found that chronological age and mean mental age collectively accounted for much of subjects' variability in vocabulary comprehension and syntax comprehension, with total passes on a hearing screening accounting for additional variability. (Author/DB)

This article discusses the development of an orientation and mobility screening measure suitable for use with children having severe visual impairments (and possibly additional impairments) from birth through five years of age. Twenty instructors rated the measures as being useful. The two forms of the measure (for either ambulatory or…

Assessment of 486 first-quarter first graders identified 99 children as being at risk for reading difficulties, half of whom then received a phonological processing intervention. Results support the early identification of children at risk for reading difficulties and the effectiveness of the phonological processing intervention. (DB)

This article describes one school district's efforts to improve the identification procedures for an elementary pullout program for gifted students through systematic reassessment and revision. Revisions made in the areas of student nomination, data gathering, data synthesis, diagnostic assessment, and validation are discussed. Results from…

The epidemiological method of case-control study is described, and its advantages and disadvantages are discussed for use in health program evaluation. Examples are reviewed, with a step-by-step description of the method. Potential applications are discussed, including worksite health promotions, screening programs, and large-scale public health…

Two pilot tests with fifth and sixth graders evaluated the Secondary School Admission Test for identifying academically talented students of elementary school age. Testing indicated that mean scores for eighth and ninth grade normative samples are recommended as cutoffs for identifying highly able fifth and sixth grade students. (Author/JDD)

The Matrix Analogies Test measures nonverbal ability of handicapped and nonhandicapped children, ages 5-17, in a culture-fair fashion. It assesses pattern completion, reasoning by analogy, serial reasoning, and spatial visualization, with a short form available as a screening instrument. This paper describes the test's administration, format,…

The study compared results of the Preschool Language Scale, administered to 214 rural and 214 suburban children in Nebraska. Both groups scored above age level, but a higher percentage of rural children failed a wide range of verbal ability and auditory comprehension items. The scale did not meet criteria for nonbiased, ecologically valid…

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…