Observing Young Children in Action to Assess their Development: The High/Scope Child Observation Record Study

Abstract

The High/Scope Child Observation Record (COR) measures the developmental status of young children 21/2 to 6 years old as affected by early childhood education. A study of COR ratings of children's behavior by 64 teams of COR-trained Head Start teachers and assistant teachers in southeastern Michigan demonstrated the COR's reliability and concurrent validity. COR ratings by teachers had alpha reliability coefficients of .66 to .93 and Pearson product-moment correlations of .57 to .76 with COR ratings of the same children by assistant teachers. The COR study demonstrated the concurrent validity of COR ratings by teachers by Pearson product-moment correlations of .37 to .53 with similar scores on the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities; .51 to .61 with children's ages; .00 to .07 with children's sex; and .00 to .28 with mothers' and fathers' schooling and employment status, respectively.