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Research Article  |   January 1995
Performance of Israeli Versus U.S. Preschool Children on the Miller Assessment for Preschoolers
Eleanor Schneider; Shula Parush; Noomi Katz; Lucy J. Miller
Author Affiliations
  • Eleanor Schneider, MA, OT(C), is Coordinator and Lecturer of Pediatric Occupational Therapy, Department of Occupational Therapy, The University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, Haifa, 31999, Israel, and Staff Therapist. Chanah Khoushy Child Development Center, Bnai Zion Medical Center, Haifa, Israel
  • Shula Parush, PhD, OTR is Assistant Director, School of Occupational Therapy, Hebrew University, and Coordinator and Lecturer of Pediatric Occupational Therapy, School of Occupational Therapy, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
  • Noomi Katz, PhD, OTR, is Associate Professor, School of Occupational Therapy, Hebrew University, and Chairperson of the Master’s Program in Occupational Therapy, Division of Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
  • Lucy J. Miller, phD, OTR, is author of the Miller, Assessment for Preschoolers; Executive Director of The Foundation for Knowledge in Development (KID), Denver, Colorado; and Assistant Research Professor at Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri
Article Information
School-Based Practice / Research
Research Article   |   January 1995
Performance of Israeli Versus U.S. Preschool Children on the Miller Assessment for Preschoolers
American Journal of Occupational Therapy, January 1995, Vol. 49, 19-23. doi:10.5014/ajot.49.1.19
American Journal of Occupational Therapy, January 1995, Vol. 49, 19-23. doi:10.5014/ajot.49.1.19
Abstract

Objectives. The Miller Assessment for Preschoolers (MAP) is a scale that can be used to evaluate preschool children with suspected preacademic problems. Before implementing the MAP in Israel, it was necessary to determine whether the U.S. norms were applicable to the Israeli preschool population.

Method. In a pilot study carried out in Israel, the Hebrew version of the MAP was administered to 2 age groups of 30 children each. The scores of Israeli children were compared with the U.S. norms on each of the MAP’s 27 subtests, the five performance indices, and the total score.

Results. There were no significant differences between the Israeli sample and the U.S. standardization sample in either age group on the MAP total score; significant differences were found in both age groups on the Foundations Index and on some specific subtests. Israeli children performed below U.S. norms on the Foundation Index.

Conclusion. These findings indicate that the performance of Israeli children of overall in these two age groups is not significantly different from the performance of U.S. children. If future research demonstrates that these findings are stable across all age groups and for larger samples, the implication is that the MAP can be administered and scored in Israel with the scoring methodology and normative information developed in the United States. However, because of the poorer performance of Israeli children on the Foundations Index, we recommend that specific Israeli norms be developed.