The COMP-Ident Assessment Format for developing assessment and intervention procedures to follow up initial screening of preschool handicapped children in rural areas is the second stage in the HICOMP Project. Linkage between assessment and programming includes describing the child's current levels of functioning in all areas; specifying long- and short-range educational goals; and selecting evaluation methods to assess the child's progress and program effectiveness. HICOMP uses a competency-based approach, in which traditional developmental scales are used as criterion referenced and norm referenced measures to sample skills in the areas of communication, self-care, motor development, and problem solving. Assessment is linked to an individualized instructional plan, by determing specific skills and behavioral strategies which constitute the initial goal-setting plan for each child. After instructional strategies have been implemented, each child's progress is monitored by curriculum-imbedded checklists and behavioral analysis. The competency-based, developmental-task methods achieves four objectives: (1) merging assessment with programming; (2) ensuring similarity between sampled and targeted behaviors; (3) providing functional analysis of each child's range of capabilities; and (4) providing a varied basis for monitoring skill acquisition. (MH)