Validity of the DIAL-R for Identifying Children with Special Education Needs and Predicting Early Reading Achievement

Abstract

The validity of the DIAL-R for identifying special-needs children and predicting early achievement was investigated for 463 prekindergarten screening program participants. The DIAL-R was found to be useful for selecting children in need of follow-up services. A decision-to-refer rule based on one low DIAL-R area score was most satisfactory in identifying special-needs children (sensitivity = .57; specificity = .95). All children with more disabling educational handicaps and one-half of those with less severe impairments were identified. Findings supported the use of locally validated decision-to-refer rules and multiple cut-off scores (OK, monitor, refer). The correlation between DIAL-R and kindergarten Clymer-Barrett Readiness Test scores was r = .64 (p <.01); the correlation of the DIAL-R with first-grade Stanford Reading Test scores was .54 (p <.01). Consistent with findings for other screening instruments, results suggested that the DIAL-R has limited validity for predicting the achievement of individual children beyond kindergarten.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Clymer, E. , & Barrett, T. C. (1983). Clymer-Barrett Readiness Test, Revised Edition. Santa Barbara, CA: Chapman, Brook, & Kent.

Gardner, E. F. , Rudman, H. C. , Karlsen, B. , & Merwin, J. C. (1983). Stanford Achievement Test norms booklet. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.

Lichtenstein, R. (1981). Comparative validity of two preschool screening tests: Correlational and classificational approaches. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 14, 68-72.

Lichtenstein, R. (1982). New instrument, old problem for early identification. Exceptional Children, 48, 70-72.

Lichtenstein, R. , & Ireton, H. (1984). Preschool screening. Orlando, FL: Grune & Stratton.

Lindquist, G. T. (1982). Preschool screening as a means of predicting later reading achievement. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 15, 331-332.

Mardell, C. , & Goldenberg, D. (1975). Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning (DIAL). Edison, NJ: Childcraft Education.

Mardell-Czudnowski, C. D. , & Goldenberg, D. S. (1983). Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning-Revised. Edison, NJ: Childcraft Education.

Meisels, S. J. , Wiske, M. S. , & Tivnan, T. (1984). Predicting school performance with the Early Screening Inventory. Psychology in the Schools, 21, 25-33.

10.

Obrzut, J. E. , Bolocofsky, D. N. , Heath, C. P. , & Jones, M. J. (1981). An investigation of the DIAL as a pre-kindergarten screening instrument. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 41, 1231-1241.

11.

Thorndike, R. L. (1949). Personnel selection. New York: John Wiley.

12.

Vacc, N. A. , Vacc, N. N. , & Fogleman, M. S. (1987). Preschool screening: Using the DIAL as a predictor of first-grade performance. Journal of School Psychology, 25, 45-51.

13.

Wiske, M. S. , Meisels, S. J. , & Tivnan, T. (1982). Early Screening Inventory: A study of early childhood developmental screening. In N. J. Anatasiow , W. F. Frankenburg , & A. W. Fandal (Eds.), Identifying the developmentally delayed child (pp. 121-137). Baltimore: University Park Press.