1. The Miller Function & Participation Scales (M-FUN)
Presented by: Sam Beaumont, Delilah Bolo, & Katrin Denda

2. M-FUN Author: Lucy Jane Miller Publisher: Harcourt Assessment, Inc.
Publishing date: 2006
Cost:
Miller Function and Participation Scales Complete Kit with Manipulatives- Includes Workbooks and Checklists $399.00
Accessories:
Record Forms (Pkg. of 25) $59.00
Workbooks (Pkg. of 25) $46.50
Checklists (Pkg. of 25) $20.80

3. M-FUN
Purpose:
M-FUN helps determine how a child’s motor competency affects his/her ability to engage in home and school activities and to participate socially
M-FUN can be used to determine or identify:
Visual motor, fine motor, and/or gross motor delay
Eligibility for services
Motor abilities that may benefit from home and/or classroom adaptations and accommodations
Underlying neuromotor foundational issues (i.e., problems with hand functions, strength, and endurance)
Curriculum-relevant interventions
Child’s progress toward intervention goals

4. M-FUN Type of assessment:
M-FUN is a developmental tool. It is a standardized assessment tool and includes a set of questionnaires
40-60 min. to complete the standardized portion, and 5-10 min. for the caregiver, teacher, or examiner to complete each checklist

5. M-FUN Population and age range:
Age range: 2 years 6 months to 7 years 11 months
older children with motor delays may be tested for progress, but no norms
Children with mild, moderate, or severe motor delay could be tested

6. M-FUN Domains and Subtests:
There is a performance component and participation component
With the tasks and checklists, administers will be able to obtain knowledge about: self-care, functional use of tools, functional mobility, purposeful hand-eye coordination, and participation in home and school activities
Frameworks: looking at play/leisure, education, ADLs

7. M-FUN Domains and Subtests:
Performance Assessment: visual motor, fine motor, and gross motor scaled score. They could all be administered in one sitting or multiple.
15-16 activities total, depending on age
neurological foundations are observed in each activity can be categorized into four areas: hand function, postural abilities, executive function and participation, and non-motor visual perception
Participation Assessment: Home, classroom, and test observation checklists
teachers, caregivers, or someone who routinely works with child should complete home and classroom observations

8. M-FUN Qualifications to administer:
A variety of professionals may choose to use the M-FUN, including the fields of: OT, PT, special education, adaptive physical education, early childhood interventionists
Examiners should have experience in standardized test administration, scoring, and interpretation, and detailed knowledge of motor development and sensory processing in young children

9. Psychometric Properties
Reliability
Test-retest (after 0 to 21 days):
Moderately high reliability across time for all ages. The reliability coefficient ranged from .77 (Visual Motor and Gross Motor) to .82 (Fine Motor).
Internal consistency:
For standardization sample: the average coefficients were good (.85 for the visual motor test) to excellent (.90 for the fine motor test and .92 for the gross motor test).
The average coefficients for the Home, Classroom, and Test Observations checklists were excellent, ranging from .95 to .96
Inter-rater reliability (5 pairs of examiners; 29 children):
The correlation between raters’ scores was .91 for Visual Motor, .93 for Fine Motor, and .91 for Gross Motor.
There was a high degree of consistency between scorers’ interpretations: the average decision agreement (i.e. identifying the child as performing in the average range or as having a motor impairment) was 96% for Visual Motor, 97% for Fine Motor, and 93% for Gross Motor. .

10. Psychometric Properties
Validity
Content Validity:
M-FUN content reflects the developmental progression of motor abilities in children 2 yrs 6 mo through 7 yrs 11 mo
M-FUN activities are assessed in the context of visual motor, fine motor, and gross motor „games“; in addition, M-FUN has three checklists (Home, Classroom, and Test Observations) that focus on activity completion and participation
Activities are constructed to be relevant to tasks leading to early school success
Internal Structure:
Moderate to high correlations among the 3 tests, ranging from .47 (Visual Motor and Gross Motor) to .58 (Fine Motor and Gross Motor). The correlation between Visual Motor and Fine Motor was .55
Relationship to other variables:
Moderate to high correlation b/w the Miller Assessment of Preschoolers (MAP) and the M-FUN (from .47 to .83), suggesting the two tests yield different but complementary information about a child’s motor skills
Clinical validity statistics:
Clinical validation studies indicate that M-FUN is very sensitive to the motor difficulties of children identified as having motor delays and provide strong support for clinical utility.

11. Administration Scheduling Testing
Child should be well-rested and ready to give “best performance”
Adequate time to administer the test (40-60 min. to complete the standardized portion, and 5-10 min. for the caregiver, teacher, or examiner to complete each checklist)
Testing Materials
M-FUN Administration Directions
Record form (for ages 2:6-3:11 or ages 4:0-7:11)
Workbook (for ages 2:6-3:11 or ages 4:0-7:11)
Manipulatives (some are included in test kit; others have to be purchased)

12. Administration (cont‘d)
Testing Environment
M-FUN can be administered anywhere (i.e. school, office, clinic, sheltered area of home) as long as it is quiet and there are no distractions
Testing area should be well lit, ventilated, and large enough to perform all activities
Because some of the gross motor activities require the child to have good balance and traction, tester should be aware of testing area’s flooring and child’s shoes >> if necessary, remove child’s shoes / socks for gross motor activities
Tester and child should sit in child-sized chairs if available
Child should be properly supported to not lose balance during testing activities

13. Administration (cont‘d)
Establishing rapport with child and testing the items
Allow caregivers to be present
begin the session by putting child at ease
Do a warm-up activity when testing 2 and 3 year old children
Know the administration directions (activities should be administered in order according to the Manual: start with Visual Motor; then Fine Motor; have a snack; finally Gross Motor) – however, there is flexibility if child is slow to warm up
Keep stimulus materials out of child‘s sight until needed for test (to avoid distractions)
Be enthusiastic
Give sufficient verbal reinforcement to maintain child‘s interest in test (i.e. ok to say „Good job!“ – but don‘t tell child if s/he answered an item correctly)
Use motivators (i.e. ok to use stickes, etc.)

14. Administration (cont‘d)
Testing items
Follow Administration Directions
All M-FUN games begin w/ a teaching and practice item during which tester can provide as many cues as necessary for child to understand the task (>>only on practice items)
Possible to reword directions
Explain why correct answer is correct
Explain what the child needs to pay attention to in pictures in order to get practice item correct
Giving physical cues (including guiding a child‘s hand for VM or FM, or placing the child in the correct position for GM)
when testing the item, CANNOT change wording of directions or cue the child
Can repeat the directions or repeat a stimulus one time

15. Scoring

16. Scoring Record form for two different age groups:
2 years 6 months- 3 years 11 months
4 years – 7 years 11 months
Participation Assessment (Checklists)
Add all “1”s in each column
Multiply by number stated on form
Add all multiplied scores together for total

18. Transfer to Scores Summary: Participation Scores
See Appendix F to determine if child is Average, Below Average, or Far Below Average for each observation area.

19. Scoring Performance Assessment
Each item has specific criteria for scoring, usually from 0-3
Each item is broken down into multiple components
Obtain a total score for each item
Test all activities and items within activities with a few exceptions
0= unable to perform skill
3= mastery of skill
Sometimes scale goes only to “2” or all the way to “5”

21. Transfer totals to Performance and Participation Skills Analysis: Performance Raw Scores Total
Add total Raw Scores for Visual Motor, Fine Motor, Gross Motor

22. Scoring Norm-Referenced Performance Scores Scaled Score (Appendix B)
Confidence level and corresponding Scaled Score Points +/- (Appendix B)
Convert Scaled Score to Percentile Rank (Appendix C)
Percentile Rank Confidence Interval (Appendix C)
Determine Age Equivalent (Appendix D)

24. Scoring Performance Score Differences
Can determine differences in scores of:
VM and FM
VM and GM
FM and GM
Can determine if these differences are significant (.15 or .05)
Helps identify areas of strength and weakness
Critical value for .15 = difference of 2
Critical value for .05= difference of 3

26. Scoring Performance Score Chart Mark with an “X” the scaled score
Mark with an “—” the confidence interval

27. Scoring Progress Scores
Compares Raw Scores in Fine Motor and Gross Motor across 3 tests
Compares Progress Score in FM and GM across 3 tests (Appendix E)
Can also graph this info

29. Scoring Neurological Foundations Profile
Circle item numbers for which the child scored “0” or “1” point
May want to use different colors to differentiate if item was “0” or “1”
Able to identify areas that did not receive full credit
These areas may become a focus for interventions and/or making recommendations to parents

31. Interpretation Can determine areas of strength and weakness
Can identify significant differences in skills
Can determine if child is at, above, or below his age group
Can identify the child’s percentile rank and relationship to mean (standard deviation)
How the child performs in different environments
Can track progress

32. Advantages Fun, age-appropriate games
Opportunity for practice / teaching by giving cues to ensure child understands task
Simple administration
Straightforward scoring criteria w/ sample scoring
Multiple ways to interpret data (age equivalent, track progress, confidence interval, Neurological Profile, etc)
Considers multiple skill areas in items
Checklists from various perspectives
Helps determine eligibility for services

33. Disadvantages Scoring can be time consuming
Be familiar w/ scoring components before administration
Administrator has to be extremely observant of child‘s performance (b/c of behavior rating throughout test)
Need parent and teacher involvement

34. References
Miller, L. J. (2006). Miller Function & Participation Scales: Examiner’s Manual. San Antonio, TX: Harcourt Assessment, Inc.
Pearson Education. (2011). Miller Function & Participation Scales. Retrieved from