A critique of the standardization of the Miller Assessment for Preschoolers.

The Miller Assessment for Preschoolers (MAP) is a standardized screening instrument for preschoolers who are at risk for moderate to severe academic problems. A review of the procedures used to standardize the MAP found that it is a well-developed screening instrument that exhibits the qualities of good item discrimination, good test structure and content, good data collection on normal subjects, and good inter-rater and test-retest reliability. The MAP is effective in screening normal children who fall in the lowest 20th percentile. Since the intent of the MAP is to screen preschool children with moderate to severe pre-academic problems, further reliability and validity studies described in this paper need to be conducted before the MAP can be used effectively in screening children with delays. Caution should be used in categorizing normal children as "high risk" or suspect until decision validity studies have been completed.