Competing Validity of Developmental Diagnostic in School Entry Examination: Results of a Census in an Upper Bavarian District

Abstract

Evaluation of the concurrent validity of a modified Bavarian model (BM) compared to the social-paediatric screening of developmental status for school entry (SOPESS) as a reference tool. A total of 407 preschoolers to be enrolled for the school year 2015 in an Upper Bavarian District were examined by BM and SOPESS. As a measure of the concurrent validity, the Kappa by Cohen (ĸ) was used. The agreement of both instruments was moderate and was less pronounced for single dimensions than globally. The agreement in the dimensions of "prepositions" vs. "grammatism" (ĸ=0.46) was highest and for the dimensions "numbers and quantities" vs. "calculus" (ĸ=0.05). Stratification by age, gender, nationality and mode of the study programs had no significant influence on the strength of the effects. The moderate agreement between the 2 instruments raises the question of the validity of BM used so far in school enrollment examinations.