Revision and Restandardization of a Preschool Screening Test: DIAL Becomes DIAL-R

Abstract

A widely used preschool screening test, DIAL (Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning) was revised and restandardized on a national sample of 2,447 children. The age range was extended to include four chronological years (2-0 to 6-0) and the format was modified by combining gross motor and fine motor skills into one Motor area, The rationale for the test construction and test standardization are discussed and the establishment of norms in the form of cut-off points are described. This new test, DIAL-R, appears to accurately identify a full range of performance, potential giftedness as well as potential problems. However, it is considered by the authors as merely a definitive first step in identifying young children at either end of the continuum of readiness skills who may be in need of additional services.

Validation of the Preschool and Early Childhood Functional Assessment Scale (PECFAS)

“…The Developmental Indicators for Assessment of Learning-Revised (DIAL-R) is a well established and validated educational screen for children between the ages of 2 and 6 years (Barnett, Faust, & Sarmir, 1988;Glascoe, 1991;Mardell-Czudnowski & Goldenberg, 1984).…”

Using the Computer for Early Childhood Screening, Writing Objectives, and Developing Local Norms/Records

“…In addition, keeping track of children on multiple screenings during the preschool years, developing local norms instead of using national or state norms, or building a data base for school or district summary analyses can be both costly and difficult to achieve without massive paperwork. Now a computer program, DIAL-LOG, (Goldenberg, Mardell-Czudnowski, Abrams, and Bushong, 1986) has been developed for these purposes when the site uses DIAL-R. DIAL-R is a widely used screening test which is nationally normed and has acceptable reliability and validity (Mardell-Czudnowski & Goldenberg, 1983, 1984. There are three parts to the computer program.…”