Predictive validity of a Spanish-language adapted version of the Anton Brenner Developmental Gestalt Test of School...

For an adapted version of the Anton Brenner Developmental Gestalt Test of School Readiness, developed for experimental use in Costa Rica, the present objective was to ascertain its predictive validity. With 312 preschool children during the first semester and at the end of kindergarten, the relationship between test scores and failing or passing first grade was examined and found similar. The average hit rate (percentage of children with and without school problems who were classified correctly) was 84%, the test's sensitivity (percentage of children with difficulties identified correctly) was 23%, and its specificity (percentage of children correctly identified who did not have school problems in first grade) was 97%. The test showed almost a 7:1 ratio for misclassifying false positives and false negatives. It seems advantageous to use the test in the first semester to have time to remedy difficulties during kindergarten.