## What does it mean?

“Parent-report screening tool” means that parents actually complete the questionnaires and then professionals score them.

## Who supports it?

The American Academy of Pediatrics.

## What are the advantages?

- Information supplied by parents about their children is typically highly accurate.

- Parent-report tools are relatively inexpensive compared with instruments that must be completed by professionals.

The American Academy of Pediatrics specifically cited Ages & Stages Questionnaires as one of the three high quality parent-report screening tools for having “excellent psychometric properties and the advantage of requiring much less time…than instruments that require direct administration” by the professional.

- They generally require little training and can be scored by office staff or paraprofessionals.

- Parent-report tools are very flexible; they can be sent home to be completed independently, taken on home visits, completed in child care or preschool settings, or filled out in waiting rooms.

- They are deliberately brief and easy for parents to complete.

- Parent-report tools make use of parents’ unique perspective on their child’s behavior and activities in various natural settings (rather than relying on observation of the child in an unfamiliar setting such as a doctor’s office).

- Whether a child is flagged as potentially having a delay or not, high quality parent-report tools become effective parent education instruments.