PRE-ACADEMIC SKILL DEVELOPMENT IN CHILDREN WHO WERE FULL-TERM LOW-BIRTH-WEIGHT INFANTS - PILOT DATA

This investigation assessed pre-academic skill performance in 19 presc hool-aged children with no significant disability who had been full-te rm low-birthweight infants. Subjects were drawn from a 1988 cohort of intensive-care nursery graduates. Mean birthweight was 2239 g, and mea n gestational age was 36.7 weeks. The Miller Assessment for Preschoole rs (MAP) was used to measure pre-academic skill development. The MAP s cores include a total score and five index scores: foundations, coordi nation, verbal, nonverbal, and complex tasks. Percentile scores derive d from MAP testing were analyzed to determine if scores in the study p opulation fell below the 25th percentile, indicating risk for delays i n pre-academic skill performance and warranting tracking services. Res ults indicated that, as a group, this full-term low-birthweight sample of preschool-aged children had adequate overall pre-academic skill de velopment. However, closer examination of MAP indices suggests the pre sence of some some difficulties Forty-seven percent of the sample fell below the 25th percentile risk cut-off in the Coordination index. Als o of potential concern were findings from the Verbal Index in which 21 .2% of the sample scored at risk. Parental concerns about the child's development often correctly predicted deficits in appropriate MAP indi ces. This finding, along with findings from the data analysis, suggest s that a portion of this population of children continues to be at ris k for developmental difficulties. Evaluating pre-kindergarten readines s, using both formal evaluation fools and parental input, may be impor tant for identifying children from this ''at-risk'' group who may be e xperiencing pre-academic difficulties. Further investigation with a br oader sample is recommended.