Providing legally required early intervention to preschool children with mild mental retardation or learning disabilities is an educational mandate that is not being met because of the inability of currently available screening tests to detect the majority of children at risk for these mild mental handicaps. As a consequence, these children are also at increased risk for the emotional and mental difficulties that often accompany a history of school failure. Early detection could prevent or ameliorate those undesirable mental health expectations. A new screening test is needed to enable the detection of 3-year olds with either of these cognitive handicaps, for this is the age at which they are eligible for special education services in public school. The purpose of this research project is to develop a valid screening test to identify those tasks which best differentiate children with and without disabilities. In the third year, the items to be included in the new screening test will be determined by reevaluating those items already selected for their contribution to individual student differentiation, using the same techniques previously employed, and thus fixing the final version of the new cognitive screening test.
