Assessment of measures to detect preschool academic risk in very-low-birth-weight children

Abstract

The ability of three preschool risk detection tools to accurately identify apparently healthy very-low-birth-weight children (VLBW < 1500 g) who would subsequently experience school failure was studied. The sample of 35 children included 20 girls and 15 boys, 15 African-American children and 20 white children, who were 4 years old when assessed. The tool based on the information processing model had a significantly higher degree of specificity than the readiness or development based tools. None of the tools were sensitive enough to identify more than two thirds of the children who subsequently experienced school failure in grades K through 2.