title: Construct validity of the Miller assessment for preschoolers and the pediatric examination of educational readiness for children.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the construct validity of the Miller Assessment for Preschoolers (MAP) and the Pediatric Examination of Educational Readiness (PEER), two assessment tools that occupational therapists and physical therapists can use for early identification of children with developmental disabilities. The sample included 84 Israeli children who were tested on the MAP (42 children with pre-academic problems and 42 typically developing children), and 70 children who were tested on the PEER (35 children with pre-academic problems and 35 typically developing children). Out of this pool of subjects, 30 typically developing children and 30 children with pre-academic problems were tested on both tests and the results were used for additional data analysis. We found differences between the groups' MAP and PEER total scores as well as their developmental indices scores. Children with pre-academic problems scored lower. The supplementary behavioral observations of the tests yielded less definite results. A strong correlation existed between the total scores of the MAP and the PEER, and the total scores of the tests correlated significantly with each of the sub-scores of the other test. The findings support the construct validity of both tests, thereby suggesting that either test can be used to identify children with pre-academic problems.
authors.affiliation: School of Occupational Therapy, Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, P.O Box 24026, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem, Israel 91240. msshulap@pluto.huji.ac.il
authors.forename: Shula
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Parush
authors.forename: Aviva
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yochman
authors.forename: Adam S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Jessel
authors.forename: Mor
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shapiro
authors.forename: Tal
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mazor-Karsenty
mesh_terms: D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000592:standards*; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000379:methods*; D010808:Physical Examination; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011581:Psychological Tests / Q000592:standards; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis