The Prediction of First Grade Achievement with Behavioral Ratings Taken during Kindergarten

The predictive validity of the Devereux Elementary School Behavior Rating Scale was investigated for 299 suburban children who were largely from upper-middle class homes and well above average in intelligence. Teacher ratings on the Devereux were completed for the children while they were in kindergarten and these ratings were used to predict first grade achievement in the areas of reading and mathematics. Data analysis consisted of determining the regression of the achievement criteria on Devereux scores. The results were encouraging in that the R’s between Devereux ratings and all four achievement criteria were not only highly significant but also sufficient to indicate a substantial amount of common variance. The amount of variance in each criteria accounted for by its regression equation was as follows: reading vocabulary, 28%; reading comprehension, 21%; mathetmatics computation, 18%, and mathematics problems and concepts, 15%. The Comprehension factor occurred in the equations for all four criteria and was the predominant variable in three of the four equations. Thus, Comprehension as defined by Devereux ratings seems to be important for most aspects of first grade achievement.