Title: Interrater Reliability of a Field-Based Preschool Movement Skills Assessment
Abstract: Objective To determine the interrater reliability of the Preschool Movement Assessment (PMA), a unique field-based assessment tool for use by early childhood professionals in preschool settings. Methods A total of 123 preschool children, aged 3–5years, were assessed by 6 trained raters using the PMA tool in an intervention. Interrater agreement on individual items of the PMA was determined using the kappa (κ) and intraclass correlation coefficient statistics. Results Weighted κ values were 0.82–0.96, indicating excellent agreement for all constructs of the PMA. The 95% confidence intervals indicated that all weighted κ’s were statistically significant. The intraclass correlation coefficient for the PMA total score was 0.97. Conclusions and Implications After additional developmental research, the tool might serve to establish and support a minimum level of functional movements that should be attained before a child enters grade school.