HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal My Folders Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Cabell, S. Q. Articles by Kilday, C. R. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Cabell, S. Q. Articles by Kilday, C. R. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Validity of Teacher Report for Assessing the Emergent Literacy Skills of At-Risk Preschoolers

Laura M. Justice
The Ohio State University, Columbus

Tricia A. Zucker
Carolyn R. Kilday
University of Virginia

Contact author: Sonia Cabell, Preschool Language and Literacy Lab, P.O. Box 400873, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904. E-mail: sqc2d{at}virginia.edu.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the predictive validity of teacher report for assessing the emergent literacy skills of preschool-age children. The aims were twofold: (a) to examine predictive relationships between teacher report and direct behavioral assessment, and (b) to examine the extent to which teacher report accurately differentiates children who are exhibiting low levels of emergent literacy skills relative to their peers.

Method: Forty-four preschool teachers completed a rating form reporting the print-related emergent literacy skills of 209 children who were enrolled in their classrooms. Approximately 2 months later, the children completed direct assessments of these skills.

Results: Correlations between teacher report and children's performance on direct behavioral assessments were positive, moderate to large in size, and statistically significant. In terms of classifying children into groupings based on risk (e.g., at risk, low risk), global teacher ratings demonstrated a sensitivity of 51.9% and a specificity of 87.9%.

Clinical Implications: The present results indicate that teacher report provides a somewhat valid representation of children's skills. However, the diagnostic accuracy of teacher report for identifying children who are at risk is generally low. With this limitation in mind, teacher report can provide an important complement to current assessment approaches that are used in preschool settings.

KEY WORDS: emergent literacy, assessment, at-risk preschoolers

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Facebook    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?