An Evaluation of a Multiple Gating Program

This study is a descriptive analysis of archival data collected for the purpose of ascertaining the effectiveness of a multiple gating program implemented by the Child Development Council (CDC) Head Start of Franklin County. Multiple gating incorporates a stepwise assessment procedure which begins with a large-scale screening for purposes of identifying children who have a low base-rate problem, such as a developmental delay in the preschool-age population. Further, screenings are completed, which are more intensive in nature and are conducted on a smaller group of children who had been identified by the preceding large-scale screening. Multiple gating procedures have rarely been used in assessing for developmental delays and the research literature on this technique is severely lacking in the field of education. This analysis is a replication of the methodology used by Loeber, Dishion, and Patterson (1984) in their study on identifying youth who were at-risk for delinquency. In this current study, Gate I consists of screening the majority of the CDC Head Start children with the Denver II developmental screening instrument. Children enrolled in the CDC Head Start were screened using the Denver II within the first three months of their enrollment. Gate II involves screening those children identified on the Denver II as suspect with the Early Screening Inventory – Revised (ESI-R). This screening instrument identifies a child in one of three categories. Either ok, rescreen (meaning that the child must be rescreened in an eight-week time period), or refer. Gate III involves an additional evaluation completed by Columbus Public Schools (CPS). This evaluation is completed on those children who performed within the refer range on the ESI-R and includes a parent interview, child observation, and screening using the Brigance Preschool Screen. Although the CDC Head Start of Franklin County implemented a multiple gating program during the 2002-2003 school year, the results obtained indicate that the current multiple gating program may not be adequate in identifying those children who are at-risk for a developmental delay due to a lack of correlation between the criterion measure and the two developmental screening instruments.