| Sumario: | The purpose of this study was to determine whether students at risk differ from typically developing students in terms of their abilities to perform schoolwork tasks. The participants were 95 typically developing students and 84 students at risk from the School AMPS database who had been evaluated using the School Version of the Assessment or Motor and Process Skills (School AMPS) by calibrated reliable raters. The students were divided into five age groups as follows: 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 to 12 years of age. Two-way ANOVAs and post hoc t-tests revealed significant differences between the 7-year and 9- to 12-year groups for school motor ability and between all groups 6 years and older for school process ability. Effects sizes for students 6 years and above were medium to large. These results indicate that there is a difference in schoolwork task performance between at risk and typically developing students, 6 to 12 years of age. This difference emerged earlier than did academic discrepancies reported in the literature. The findings suggest that occupational therapy services delivered at an early age may be indicated for students at risk of developing delays and/or poor school performance who often do not receive such services.
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