Teachers’ ability to identify children with developmental coordination disorder

Abstract

Developmental coordination disorder (DCD) is a motor disorder of unclear etiology which severely interferes with a child’s ability to perform daily motor tasks. The aim of the study was to examine the convergent validity of the Movement Assessment Battery for Children – Checklist (MABC-C) when completed by teachers with the Movement Assessment Battery for Children – Test (MABC-2) when completed by Kinderkineticists, in order to determine if teachers possess the competency to identify grade 1 children with DCD in the classroom. Five hundred and forty five (N = 545) grade 1 children in South Africa between the ages of five and eight years took part in this study. There were 234 girls and 311 boys. The ethnic groups that took part consisted of 321 Caucasian and 224 Black learners. The MABC-C demonstrated a specificity of 70.3% and a sensitivity of 46.5%. The convergent validity between the two assessment tools when completed by teachers indicated a kappa coefficient of 0.110 (11%), and thus had a small effect size (r = 0.125). Therefore, it can be argued that teachers using the MABC-C could not identify children with DCD in the classroom.

Keywords: Developmental coordination disorder, movement assessment battery for children-2, movement assessment battery for children-2, checklist, children.