Bonnie W. Camp

The revised Denver Developmental Screening Test: Its accuracy as a screening instrument

This report encompasses 3 studies pertaining to the validity and reliability of theDenver Developmental Screening Test (DDST). On the basis of the first 2 studies the interpretation of the test scores was revised. A third study was then undertaken to cross-validate the revised method of interpretation. Nonprofessional health screening aides tested 2,000 children; the results in 237 were validated by testing with the Revised Bayley Infant Scale or the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale. Analysis of these data revealed that with the use of a revised method of interpretation, overreferrals were decreased from 21 per cent to 11 per cent and underreferrals increased slightly from 2 per cent to 3 per cent. A total of 186 children varying in age between 1.5 and 76 months were tested with the DDST on two occasions 7 days apart; use of the revised method of interpretation yielded 97 per cent agreement. The health aides were then retrained in the administration and interpretation of the DDST; cross validation of the revised method of interpretation with another sample of 246 children indicated only 3.2 per cent overreferrals and 0.4 per cent underreferrals.

Psychometric Tests and Learning in Severely Disabled Readers

The application of morphological rules by 10 high-risk and 10 normal children and 12 learning disabled and 12 achieving children were compared. An adaptation of Berkos experimental test of morphology was administered. High-risk and learning disabled children gave significantly fewer correct responses than their controls. For high-risk children, the greatest relative performance differences were for third person singular, progressive, past tense, and adjectival inflections. For learning-disabled children, the greatest relative differences were for third person singular, possessives, and adjectival inflections. It was concluded that high-risk and learning disabled children exhibited differential and qualitatively similar delays in the acquisition of morphological rules.The present study examined the relationship between performance on tests of auditory and visual perception and learning rate in reading lessons. Subjects were 69 children with severe dyslexia (2-5 years below grade level) who participated in a standard tutorial program designed along behavior therapy lines. Prior to placement in the tutorial reading program, children were tested with the Wide Range Achievement Test, the Bender-Gestolt, the Raven, a test of auditory-visual integration, and a test of visual-spatial perception. Learning rates were determined for 42 children. Significant correlations were found among the psychometric tests but not between psychometric tests and learning rate. Children achieving above and below expectancy in tutoring differed significantly in learning rate and amount of gain over 6 months but not on any of the psychometric tests. It was concluded that perceptual deficiencies may be more frequent in disabled readers, but learning rate and achievement are not related to the degr...

Reading and Spelling in Good and Poor Readers

To more easily distinguish patterns of reading and spelling errors, two parallel, standardized reading and spelling forms were designed, based on Boders work 1971, 1973. They were used in a large metropolitan elementary school to test two groups of children: a normal sample of 34 children from regular fifth-grade classes, and a sample of 18 fourth- to sixth-grade children previously diagnosed as retarded readers. Reliability and validity were examined. The correlation between parallel forms given to the normal sample was 0.96, and correlations with the Wide Range Achievement Test for the combined samples was 0.95. Criteria were established to differentiate between normal, dyseidetic, dysphonetic, and alexic patterns. The two samples were combined to determine the frequency with which these patterns occurred in High, Average and Low readers. Boders atypical patterns were significantly more common in Average and Low readers.

The Relationship of Teacher Rating Scales to Behavior Observations and Reading Achievement of First-Grade Children

1This investigation was supported by funds from the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development, Grant No. R01 HDO 3775, and, in part, by a Research Scientist Development Award, No. MK2 47356, from the National Institute of Mental Health. In recent years a number of teacher rating scales have been prepared for use in evaluating or screening children for behaviorial and emotional problems (Bower, 1960; Conners, 1969; Miller, 1972; Ross, Lacy, & Parton, 1965; Walker, 1970). The reason for their popularity is quite clear: As Werry &

Learning Rate and Retention in Retarded Readers

The relationship between rate of learning and long-term retention was studied in 46 children with severe reading disability who were receiving individual tutoring in reading. The majority of individual learning curves showed a characteristic pattern of initial acceleration followed by gradual deceleration. There was very little change in rank order after the sixth lesson at each level of difficulty. The majority of these children showed learning curves qualitatively similar to normal children. Rank order correlations between learning rate and three measures of retention ranged between .54 to .94. Since individual differences in retention have been shown to be a function of degree of learning, these results suggest that learning rate could be used as a basis for determining degree of original learning.

Classroom behavior during reading instruction.

BonnieW. Camp Sara G. Zimet It has been noted that behavior problems increase as the reading level decreases (Graubard, P. S., 1971) and that a large percentage of behavior problem children are underachievers (Glavin & Annesley, 1971). A previous study relating achievement and teacher ratings to behavioral observations suggested that these correlations result from behavior or events which take a child off task rather than because of deviant behavior (Camp & Zimet, 1974). The present study was a further explora tion of the rei a tionship between poor reading achievement and behavior problems. It compared behavior observed in high, middle, and low reading groups of first grade pupils during their reading periods.

Recall of Aggressive Words by Kindergarten Children

Lists of verbs rated as high or low in aggressive affect were compiled. Individual interviews were held with 28 children at the end of kindergarten. IQ tests were administered and the word lists were presented. Each child was asked to repeat the words he recalled hearing in each list. Significantly more highly aggressive words were recalled. No significant correlations were found between IQ and recall scores and no differences were attributable to sex. Frequency of usage was a significant factor in influencing recall.

Evaluating developmental screening in clinical practice

Objective: To demonstrate a method of evaluating accuracy of developmental screening modeled on the evidence-based medical literature. Method: A retrospective review was performed on 418 children screened with the Denver II by a trained technician. Two models for analyzing screening data were examined, using predictive values and likelihood ratios (LR+ and LR−). Results: The technician, working at 20% time, screened 44% of eligible children. There were 129/418 (31%) children with Suspect Denver II results, 115/418 who were referred, 81/115 (70%) who were evaluated by Early Intervention, and 64/81 (79%) who qualified for services. The uncorrected positive predictive value for the Denver II alone (44%) was insufficient to meet the preset standard of 60%, but the LR+ of 4.16 indicated a significant contribution of test information to improving predictive value. Combining test results with information from the parent–technician conference to achieve a referral decision resulted in an uncorrected predictive value of 56%, which rose with correction for children referred but not evaluated to 72% (LR+ 10.33). Negative predictive values and likelihood ratios of a negative test and a non-referral decision achieved recommended levels. Parents who expressed concern were significantly more likely to complete recommended evaluation than those who did not (82% vs 58%, p < .01). Results were in the same range as in published studies with other screening tests but showed three areas for improvement: screening more children, more carefully supervising some referral decisions, and getting more children to evaluation. Conclusion: Levels of predictive accuracy above 60% can be obtained by combining different types of information about development to make decisions about referral for more complete evaluation. Systematic study of such combinations could lead to improved predictive accuracy of screening programs and support attempts to close the gap between referral and evaluation.