Informant Versus Direct Screening: A Preliminary Comparative Study

Abstract

The relationship between scores on an informant screening measure (the Preschool Attainment Record-PAR) and two directly administered screening measures (the Denver Developmental Screening Test—DDST, and the Developmental Activities Screening Inventory-DASI) was examined to determine whether tests with similar content and purposes and administered according to standard procedures would produce similar results. A correlation coefficient of .91 occurred when the PAR and DDST were compareds while comparisons of PAR and DASI, and DDST and DASI resulted in correlation coefficients of .97 and .95, respectively. However, there were significant differences between the informant scale (PAR) and the two directly administered scales (DDST and DASI), while no differences were found between the DDST and the DASI. The mean score on the informant scale exceeded the directly administered scales mean scores by 10 (DASI) and 11 (DDST) months. The results of this study caution professionals in comparatively using data from several sources in order to determine the skills of young children for decision-making purposes.