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A
DIAGNOSTIC-PRESCRIPTIVE APPROACH TO
PRESCHOOL EDUCATION
MABEL
E.
HAYES AND MYRON
H.
DEMBO
University
of
Southern
California
Available diagnostic instruments such as the Frostig Developmental Tests
of
Visual Perception (Frostig,
1963),
the Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities
(Ahcarthy
&
Kirk,
1963),
and the Auditory Discrimination Test (Wepman,
1958)
have stimulated research studies on diagnostically-based curriculum programs
for
children with learning disorders at the preschool level.
Results of numerous investigations appear to indicate that the most effectivc
pre-school programs are those with the most specific and structured cognitive
activities (DiLorenzo
&
Salter,
1968).
These structured programs have been shown
to improve the language abilities of preschoolers (Kames, Hodgins,
&
Teska,
196s;
Spicker, Hodges,
&
AlcCandless,
1966)
and increase their intellectual functioning
(Iiarnes
&
Hodgins,
1969).
Oakland
(1969),
in discussing some limitations in using diagnostic-prescriptive
instruments, stated that teachers often cannot translate the psychometrist’s data
and psychological terminology into
a
specific remedial plan tailored to meet the
child’s strengths and weaknesses. He recommended that in-service programs be
initiated to increase teachers’ sophistication in both measurement and evaluation,
so
that they may play a greater role in translating diagnostic data into effective
remedial programs.
The objectives
of
the present investigation were consistent with Oakland’s
recommendation; the ITPA was used to diagnose the language developmental
patterns of preschool children, and teachers were trained to use this information
to provide an instructional program based on
a
curriculum developed around the
subtests
of
the
ITPA.
The purpose of the study was to determine whether this
diagnostic-prescriptive program would improve the school readiness of disad-
vantaged preschoolers as determined by test scores on the Caldwell Preschool
Inventory.
METHOD
The
Ss
were
32 3-,
4-,
and 5-year-old disadvantaged children selected from
a
state-funded preschool administered by the University
of
Southern California with a
total enrollment of
50
students. Students with poor attendance records, severe
emotional problems,
or
inability to speak English were excluded from the investi-
gation.
Since the students at the preschool were already divided into three age groups
for instruction with two teachers in each group,
Ss
for the experimental and control
groups were selected from each of these intact groups. In addition, one teacher
from each
of
the three groups was selected randomly to work with the experi-
mental
Ss.
All
Ss
were administered the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. A stratified
sampling
of
intelligence test scores was used to assign the students to treatment
groups, resulting in
16
Ss
in the control
(x
=
81.8)
and
16
Ss
in the experimental
(X
=
~4.9)
groups.