Early identification of neurodevelopmental difficulties is essential for timely educational support, yet existing screening approaches often assess developmental domains separately and provide limited contextual information for educational decision-making. This study developed and conducted preliminary validation of a multidomain developmental screening instrument for use in educational settings. Using a research and development design, the study involved a needs assessment with 103 participants comprising 65 elementary school teachers and 38 parents, followed by instrument development and content validation by seven multidisciplinary experts. The resulting framework integrated contextual information with 99 screening items in five developmental domains: cognitive development, behavioural regulation, sensory processing, communication, and adaptive functioning. The needs assessment indicated a strong demand for comprehensive developmental screening, while the expert evaluation yielded an overall content-validation score of 84.64%. Expert judgments also demonstrated strong consistency, with an average-measure Intraclass Correlation Coefficient of 0.949. These findings provided preliminary evidence supporting the instrument’s content and multidomain structure. The instrument therefore offers a context-sensitive framework for early developmental screening in educational settings, while further field-based psychometric validation is required before broader implementation.
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