Research Search Manzicopoulos, P. (2000). Can the Brigance K&1 screen detect cognitive/academic giftedness when used with preschoolers from economically disadvantaged backgrounds? Roeper Review, 22(3), 185-191. Summary of the study This study is concerned with testing the validity of the idea that the Brigance K&1 screen (test) can be used for identifying the potentially gifted preschoolers from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. In the aftermath of having conducted the study’s empirical phases, the author came to confirm the validity of the initially proposed thesis while showing that the effectiveness-ratio of the test’s usage, in this respect, can be as high as 75% (Manzicopoulos, 2000, p. 186). The validity/reliability of the instrument The study does discuss the instrument’s applicability for detecting giftedness in kids while comparing the effectiveness of the Brigance K&1 screen to that of the K-ABC test, which is being used to recognize cognitive leanings in schoolchildren. The accuracy of the Brigance K&1 screen has been rated at the above-average level. Use of the instrument in the study How this study uses the instrument is indeed unique to an extent. The reason for this is that the instrument’s deployment took place in conjunction with the parallel deployment of other psychometric/cognitive inventories. Moreover, the author was the first to use the Brigance K&1 screen for the specific purpose of identifying giftedness. Conclusion of the instrument for the purpose of the study The study concludes that it is indeed fully appropriate to resort to the concerned instrument when it comes to selecting the potentially gifted in the group of preschoolers. The reason for this is that it is specifically while Brigance-tested that gifted kids tend to score the highest. Lessons learnt from the study In the aftermath of having been exposed to this study, I have come to recognize it as yet another instrument of objectifying a rather vague notion of giftedness, concerning young children. This, in turn, implies that the study is euro-centric to an extent, in the sense of promoting the positivist outlook on the notion in question. Helfeldt, J. (1984). Test review: The Brigance K&1 screen for kindergarten and first grade. The Reading Teacher, 37(9), 820-824. Summary of the study In his article, the author explains what accounted for the discursive preconditions behind the adoption of the Brigance screen as the tool for measuring psycho-cognitive and perceptual capabilities in young children. He also elaborates on the technical aspects of how it is being done in practice. The validity/reliability of the instrument According to Helfeldt (1984), “The Brigance screen’s properties – its functional validity, domain selection validity, and reliability – are difficult to ascertain” (p. 823). At the same time, however, the author promotes the idea that the instrument should prove indispensable when it comes to choosing in favor of a proper educational approach to be used in each case. Use of the instrument in the study The article does not use the Brigance screen in any practical sense of this word, while mainly concerned with discussing the instrument’s theoretical and methodological subtleties. Nevertheless, the author does highlight what can be deemed the previously unexplored domains for the