Busqueda is the Spanish language adaptation of SEARCH, designed to detect learning difficulties in children whose primary language is not English. Studies have shown that 23% of children with limited English proficiency in their program have limited skills in their native language as well.

The Busqueda educational learning instrument is a valuable tool for both Hispanic children as well as educators:

• Teachers with only a limited knowledge of Spanish themselves may conclude that being bilingual explains a lack of progress in reading.
• This scanning instrument is a critical step in thoroughly understanding the differences among the children with limited English proficiency enrolled in schools.
• Enables educators to differentiate between those children who are vulnerable to learning problems in general, and those who need programs to enhance their proficiency in English.

The objective of Busqueda is to assess 10 neuropsychological sub-skills basic to reading and the language arts. Proven results from clinical and educational follow-up of kindergartners who took this test have shown that:

• Children earning scores in 8 to 10 components made adequate progress in learning to read in the first grade.
• Children earning scores of 6 and 7 have about a 50% chance of success with beginning reading.
• Scores of 5 or below indicate vulnerability to learning problems.