Over the last decade, preschool screening tests aimed at identifying children who will subsequently fail in school have proliferated. Despite their widespread use, these tests have failed at such identification for a large number of children. The present paper argues that the poor predictive validity of many preschool screening tests can be traced to their heavy reliance on a traditional psychometric approach. This approach has produced preschool screening tests that assess only general knowledge the child has been taught. The majority of preschool children who subsequently fail in school do not possess a deficit in general knowledge. Contemporary research in cognitive development has focused on more specific domains and has viewed the child as having a more active role in development. Although the term “active learner” is not new to the learning disabilities field, currently available preschool screening tests have failed to incorporate this perspective. The present investigation demonstrates how tasks derived from basic research investigating active cognitive development in the young child may eventually serve the role of early screening for school failure. Both theory and data are presented to illustrate the efficacy of this approach.
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