A language screening protocol for use with young African American children in urban settings.

Language screenings represent an important tool for early identification of language impairments in young children between 3 and 5 years of age. This investigation examined the utility of a well-established set of assessment measures for screening young African American children. One hundred and ninety-six children participated in the screening. Based upon the outcomes of the screening, 25 children who failed and a random sample of 56 children who passed were administered a larger language and cognitive assessment battery. Sensitivity and specificity of the screening were determined to be high. The number of different words, the Kaufman Nonverbal Scale, and nonword repetition accounted for a significant amount of the variance in performance. The screening is brief, valid, and culturally fair for use with preschool- and kindergarten-aged African American children living in urban settings.