A technical question about those proposed psych tests for kids...

[Jackpine Radical]

There are no good, reliable and valid mass-administered self-report tests for kids under about 14. Also, none of the available tests translate directly into psych diagnoses. The various versions of the Millon come the closest, at least as regards Axis II personality disorders, but there again you hit the fact that there are no forms of the test for pre-adolescent kids.

There are things like the Conners scales, based on teacher or parent observations, but they would take up a lot of teacher time and are of dubious validity in a mass-administered setting with untrained teachers. Along the same vein I suppose they could just make checklists of the DSM criteria for various childhood disorders, but again these devices would be un-normed and there would be a huge accuracy problem.

At the very least, theyre gonna make ETS or somebody rich creating all the new tests.

And another thing--MDs, including a lot of psychiatrists, don't particularly like psychological tests. They don't have the math & statistical background to understand them, they don't like to give lowly PhDs that much authority, and they always think that they can do a better job of evaluating someone in a 5 minute intake interview than the test will do.

I really wonder if the proponents of this business have thought at all about what they're doing.

[atreides1]

1. Who Said

That these tests were going to be good, reliable, or valid? And the money that was appropriated for it breaks down to about $3 dollars per child.

Bush doesn't want reliable tests, it's just this administrations way
taking away a parents rights, and creating automatons to do it's bidding.

[JohnnyRingo]

2. 20 million new customers for EL Lily.

Another "Mission Accomplished"

[MichiganVote]

3. They'll use a cheap mental health screener for older kids

and they'll rely on standard measures for Kindergarten readiness. Who will do it? Who do you think? Your tax dollars at work in your schools by overworked school employees.

[China_cat]

4. This isn't going to be a screening for kids'

mental health. I'd bet just about anything that the questions at the screening (or at most of them) are going to be about their parents' politics and sexual practices. With quite a few of the 'do your mommy and daddy say mean things about the president' thrown in for good measure.

The 'wrong' answers get the parents pulled in for 'screening and evaluation'.

[Anakin Skywalker]

5. You Got it, Dude!

"I really wonder if the proponents of this business have thought at all about what they're doing."

BUSINESS. There's your keyword right there. That's all it is. A business. It's about making money off of the anxiety and worry of parents and educators. I smell a Republican scheme behind this.

[Jackpine Radical]

6. So how do I get on the gravy train?