Beery VMI Developmental Test of visual-motor integration

1. Beery VMIDevelopmental Test of visual-motor integration Dayna Reilly

2. Purpose of the Test • The main purpose of this test is to identify children who have significant difficulties integrating, or coordinating, their motor abilities and visual-perceptual abilities. • It is believed that if identified early on, teaching methods and materials can be used to help prevent and remediate visual-motor problems. • An assessment of eye-hand coordination, of how well a child (or adult) can copy developmentally sequenced geometric shapes

3. How to use this test • The Beery VMI can be used by psychologists, learning disability specialists, schools counselors, teachers, and other professionals to help: • Identify individuals who may be encountering difficulties in visual-motor integration • Make appropriate referrals for needed services • Test the effectiveness of educational and other interventions • Conduct research

4. Population • The Beery VMI remains strongly focused upon early childhood education. • This test can be administered to individuals from age two through young adulthood and can also be used to test adults of all ages, particularly those who have been disabled by stroke, injury, or Alzheimer’s Disease.

5. Reliability • The Beery VMI has shown to be very reliable through adequate consistency in these three areas: • The Content of it’s items • Individuals’ performance on the test when it is re-administered • Scoring performed by different examiners`

6. Validity • The Beery VMI can be considered as a valid measure because of its reliability. • To prove its validity, The Beery VMI Handbook examines: • How it is comparable with other assessment tools that measure visual-motor integration. • The content enhances the test’s validity • Predictive validity

7. Strengths • Assesses the effectiveness of educational and other intervention programs • Can be administered as either a group or individual assessment • Serves as a Research tool • If identified early, offers tons of resources to help children get to the level they need • It is a culture-free, non-verbal assessment which is useful with individuals of diverse environmental, educational, and linguistic backgrounds.

8. Limitations • Appropriate for Ages 0-6 yrs old • Child’s behavior can affect results • No single test score is sufficient for making a diagnosis • Children with physical limitations are less able to learn or perform

9. How the test was normed • The VMI was originally normed in 1964 on 1,030 Illinois children • It was cross-validated in 1981 with 2,060 Californian children and again in 1989 with a national sample of 2, 734 children • It also has been normed in other countries • The VMI and its supplemental Visual and Motor tests were normed in 1995 and 2003 as well. Samples were selected from classes with representative ranges of learning abilities in eight states; a total of 23 childcare, preschool, public, and private schools participated. • The Beery VMI was standardized on a national sample of 1, 737 individuals age 2 to 18 years (2010) and 1,021 adults age 19-100 (2006)

10. Author – Publisher - Date • Keith E. Beery and Natasha A. Beery • Published and Distributed Exclusively By NCS Pearson, Inc. • 2004