Development and Validation of a Family Environment Checklist for Use in Selecting At-Risk Participants for Innovative Educational Preschool Programs

Abstract

Data were gathered from a checklist sampling social, educational, and economic family factors contributing to pre-school student classifications of being at-risk. The At-Risk Survey was administered to 34 parents of students selected for an innovative joint parent-child educational program aimed at enhancing parenting skills and kindergarten readiness preparation for 4 year olds. The 22-item ARS was found to be correlated (over an 8-month period) with the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (-.24), Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning (-.45), Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale (-.56), and the Home Observation for the Measurement of the Environment (-.58). Data were interpreted as supporting the predictive validity of the family environment checklist, and the presence of a general at-risk performance factor.

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