Underidentification of Preschool Children at Risk for Behavioral Disorders

Abstract

Federal legislation (PL 94-142) has placed the responsibility for the identification, screening, assessment, and placement of young children exhibiting or at risk for learning, behavioral, and/or cognitive problems with the local public schools. It is children who exhibit mild to moderate delays or differences in the area of social development that are often difficult to identify through the yearly preschool screening efforts common to most school systems. This study employed a comparison of students on a standardized behavioral checklist and follow-up observations to examine the underidentification of behavioral disorders in the preschool population attending licensed daycare settings. Results indicated that the profiles of children identified by their early education teacher as having behavior problems resembled the profiles of children in the same communities enrolled in early childhood special education for this problem. Observation of these target children in the daycare setting confirmed the teachers behavioral ratings. Changes in screening procedures and service delivery are discussed.