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Peter G. W. Schouten, Lee A. Kirkpatrick
The authors question the adequacy of the Miller Assessment for Preschoolers with respect to its intended purpose, which is to identify children at risk for future school-related problems.
Key words: professional criticism · screening tests predictive validity
Abstract
The Miller Assessment for Preschoolers (MAP) is a developmental test, a stated purpose of which is to identify children at risk for future schoolrelated problems. In this article we call attention to ambiguities and omissions in previous reviews of three longitudinal studies that evaluated the MAP's predictive accuracy. A closer look at the original studies reveals that the test displays unacceptably high error rates in predicting members of the target population. We conclude that the MAP has not been validated for its intended purpose. Professional practitioners are urged to evaluate whether claims of test validity meet the standards of scientific evidence.
Developmental screening is a crucial first step toward providing early intervention services to children who are experiencing current developmental difficulties or who are likely to have problems in the future (Lichtenstein & Ireton, 1984; Meisels, 1988). The development and evaluation of screening tests presents special challenges. A failure to consider certain subtle but important validity issues could lead to serious misunderstandings and unsound screening practices. In this article, we explore some of the problems that can arise in relation to the Miller Assessment for Preschoolers (MAP) (Miller, 1982, 1988c). Although our comments will focus on the MAP, similar problems may exist for other developmental tests.
The MAP was designed as a developmental screening device for children between the ages 2 years 9 months and 5 years 8 months. The test has a number of strengths, including a broad coverage of skill domains, extensive item refinements, and national standardization. It is norm-referenced to permit comparisons between an individual child and other children the same age. The MAP is currently used in pediatric, preschool, and educational settings throughout the United States and Canada (Daniels & Bressler, 1990; Johnson & Beauchamp, 1987).
A criticai appraisal of the MAP was offered by DeGangi (1983) shortly after the test was published. Other reviews of the test have been generally favorable (Banus, 1983; Deloria, 1985; Linder, 1985; Michael, 1985; Slaton, 1985). It should be noted,...