The pediatric extended examination at three: a system for diagnostic clarification of problematic three-year-olds.

The Pediatric Extended Examination at Three (PEET) is a neurodevelopmental assessment system designed to aid in the early detection and clarification of problems with learning, attention, and behavior in 3- to 4-year-old children. In this study the PEET was administered to 201 preschool children in the Boston area to ascertain standards of performance on this instrument and to demonstrate concurrent validity with the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities. When children with specific weaknesses on the PEET were analyzed with regard to their McCarthy scores on related indices, statistically significant agreement was documented in all areas.

Children's descriptions of their developmental dysfunctions. Field testing of a self-administered student profile.

To assess schoolchildren's own perceptions of their neurodevelopmental, social, and academic status, a self-administered student assessment has been developed. Using this instrument in conjunction with teacher ratings, 420 fourth- and sixth-grade students in a suburban community were compared with 110 grade-matched patients in a hospital referral clinic for school problems. In the community group, sixth graders reported fewer concerns than fourth graders in all developmental areas.

The dimension of inattention among children with school problems.

Within a population of children referred for school-related problems, youngsters with significant attention deficits were compared with children having other types of learning problems. Using data from parent and teacher questionnaires as well as results of multidisciplinary team assessments, each patient was assigned either to a group with significant attention deficits or to one with learning problems, but fewer, if any, problems with attention. Disagreement between observation sources was demonstrated.

Evaluation of a multidimensional assessment procedure for preschool children.

The Pediatric Examination of Educational Readiness was administered to 386 preschool children to determine whether the predictive value of this instrument could be enhanced by the inclusion of systematic measures of processing efficiency, selective attention, behavioral adaptation, and neuromaturation. Findings on these dimensions, as well as the traditional developmental attainment measure, were consistent with McCarthy cognitive scores. Concerns regarding developmental attainment, processing efficiency, and selective attention were more common in children later found to have weak kindergarten mastery skills.

An analysis of observed attention and activity patterns in preschool children.

An activity-attention scale was incorporated into the Pediatric Examination of Educational Readiness to determine whether performance of age-appropriate tasks would elicit or provoke attentional weakness or activity level modulation in a sample of prekindergarten children. Thirty-three (9.8%) of the 338 children met the criteria of weak attention and/or increased activity at one time during the assessment, and 18 (5.