TY  - JOUR
PY  - 1999//
TI  - An evaluation of the special needs referral process for low-income preschool children with emotional and behavioral problems
JO  - Early childhood research quarterly
A1  - Fantuzzo, John W.
A1  - Stoltzfus, Jill
A1  - Noone Lutz, Megan
A1  - Hamlet, Helen
A1  - Balraj, Vijaykumar
A1  - Turner, Colleen
A1  - Mosca, Samuel
SP  - 465
EP  - 482
VL  - 14
IS  - 4
N2  - The present study is an evaluation of the special needs referral system in a large urban Head Start program. To assess the validity of this system, two assessments were conducted. The first examined a representative sample of 105 children who were formally referred for special needs services. The Early Intervention Screening Profile (EISP) was used to indicate the distribution of problem behaviors of these special needs children. Two independent raters evaluated all cases. Reliable evaluations revealed that all of the referred children displayed speech and language problems, with 70% showing only speech problems and 30% showing speech plus emotional and behavioral problems. The second assessment examined reports of teachers' concerns about children program-wide by obtaining a representative sample of 203 children nominated by teachers as most likely to be identified as having special needs. Teachers completed a modified EISP. Results indicated that over 70% of the children evidenced emotional and behavioral problems with no accompanying speech difficulties and 30% displayed emotional and behavioral problems plus speech problems. Implications of referral biases were discussed.<p /> 
LA  - 
SN  - 0885-2006
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0885-2006(99)00030-7
ID  - ref1
ER  -