Authentic assessment procedures have been advocated to evaluate speech and
language skills of preschool children from multicultural, low-socioeconomic
backgrounds. In this article we discuss our use of minimal core competency
methodology as an authentic assessment protocol for preschool screening. D
espite the significant investment of time required, this protocol has prove
n to be useful and can actually save time in screening compared to quicker,
standardized measures that lack sufficient specificity.