Master's Theses

Department

Advanced Education Programs

Degree Name

Education Specialist (Ed.S)

Abstract

As of the 1991-92 school year, states accepting federal funds for young children with disabilities must guarantee a full range of services for 3 to 5-year-olds. This legislative mandate brings with it specific questions regarding the appropriateness of screening instruments designed for use with the preschool population. Screening instruments are designed for the purpose of identifying those children" at risk" for experiencing later school-related problems. Screening instruments typically provide a gross classification of "pass," "rescreen," or "refer." The successful use of a screening instrument depends upon the instrument's reliability and validity. In addition to the more commonly reported correlational validity, the predictive validity of the instrument provides useful information. Predictive validity is used to ascertain the extent to which the instrument correctly makes long range predictions regarding school performance. The purpose of the current study was to determine the predictive validity of the Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning (DIAL) (Mardell, & Goldenberg, 1975) and Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning- Revised (DIAL-R) (Mardell-Czudnoswki, & Goldenberg, 1990) in regard to later school performance, as measured by California Test of Basic Skills (CTBS) scores obtained in the first, second, and fourth grade. To obtain this information prediction-performance comparison matrices were used. The current research found the DIAL/DIAL-R to have acceptable predictive validity when the CTBS was used as the criterion instrument. The overall percent agreement was 92.67% with an under-referral rate of 2.8%. The predictive validity of the DIAL/DIAL-R decreased from the first to the fourth grade. Percent agreement remained above 80%, but sensitivity dropped to 16.7%, with under-referrals rising to 9%.

Keywords

Primary education, Students, School Psychology, Kansas, Testing, People with disabilities

Advisor

Dr. Thomas T. Jackson

Date of Award

Fall 1992

Document Type

Thesis - campus only access

Rights

© The Author(s)

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