DECISION-MAKING UTILITY OF THE BRACKEN BASIC CONCEPT SCALE IN IDENTIFYING AT-RISK PRESCHOOLERS

The purpose of this study was to investigate the ability of the Bracke n Basic Concept Scale (BBCS) to differentiate between at-risk and norm al preschoolers. The sample consisted of 79 children (45 males, 34 fem ales) ranging in age from 3 years, 6 months to 5 years, 11 months. The results supported the use of the BBCS when attempting to discriminate between at-risk and normal preschoolers. More specifically, the BBCS School Readiness Composite (SRC) was a better predictor of at-risk chi ldren than the BBCS Total Test score supporting the administration of the briefer SRC. The SRC, alone, was approximately 84 percent accurate in correctly classifying at-risk from normal preschoolers compared to the BBCS Total Test score that was approximately 75 percent accurate. A SRC scaled score of seven or below was established for recommending that preschoolers be further evaluated for possible developmental del ays.