Choosing Standardized Tests to Accurately Assess

Students’ Strengths and Weaknesses: Fourth Edition

Nicole Shahinian M.A., CCC-SLP

The Rationale For Developing This Presentation:

• Usually, at least once a year, I have a student referred for a speech and language evaluation who has been tested for speech and language with in the past year or two, but at that point the child did not qualify for services.

• However, the child continues to struggle in the classroom with regard to his/her language difficulties. Because of these difficulties, we are asked to reassess that student’s language skills.

• Why does this happen? • The child was younger than five years of age so there were limited tests available for assessment. • The initial evaluator did not choose the optimal tests to capture the student’s true weaknesses as

presented by the classroom teacher and/or parent.• My reason for creating this presentation is to inform graduate students in speech, Clinical Fellows in

speech, new Speech Language Pathologists (SLPs), and other Speech Language Specialists (SLSs) how to effectively choose tests to adequately document the nature and severity of a student’s language disorder to avoid the need for frequent reassessment.

The Purpose of a Speech and Language Evaluation

The purpose of a speech and language evaluation is to determine if a student has a language disorder and if a language disorder is present, to determine the nature and severity of that language disorder.

Before conducting language assessment….

•First, have the staff (classroom teacher, ASI teacher etc.) who works most with the student collaboratively fill out The Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-5 Observational Rating Scale (ORS).

•This rating scale is written in common and understandable language and has the teachers note their main concerns regarding language skills. Teacher concerns will give you an idea of how to direct your testing.

•In the speech and language evaluations where students have not qualified for speech services, but were still struggling in the classroom, so I was asked to re-evaluate the students, I have not seen the SLS/SLP discuss any parent or teacher concerns. If the SLS/SLP had had the parent fill out the ORS and had the teaching staff jointly fill out the ORS, the SLS/SLP would have known what areas of concern upon which to focus testing.

Where to begin with language testing?

• Getting a baseline view of the student’s overall language skills is a necessary starting point.• One of the tests that does this is the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals

(CELF-5). • Administering all subtests is essential to seeing what the student’s strengths and

weaknesses are so additional testing can be appropriately directed. • The only portions of the test that you may not choose to administer are the

Pragmatics Profile and the Pragmatic Activity Checklist. However, if the child is less than 6 years of age ( which is too young to be administered other tests), then these subtests will yield information regarding pragmatic language skills if social thinking skills and behavior is an area of concern. • For students above age 6, these pragmatic subtests of the CELF-5 will not

provide as much meaningful information as The Social Language Development Test Elementary (SLDT-E:NU). For these older students, I would move right to administering the (SLDT-E:NU) for age 6- 6;11 and for age 7 and older The (CAPs) Clinical Assessment of Pragmatics, if Social Thinking skills are a concern. (See Slide 15 for more information.)

On The Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals (CELF-5) if a student scores very poorly on The Understanding Spoken Paragraphs subtest….

To rule out concerns regarding auditory processing of information and critical thinking/problem solving, you could administer 2 tests:1. The Listening Comprehension Test 2, (for ages 6-0 through 11-11) which looks at:

• Listening to short paragraphs presented verbally and then identifying the theme or main idea.

• Listening to paragraphs, remembering details, and answering questions. • Making inferences to answer questions about information heard. • Giving a definition for a word in a passage. • Listening to short passages presented verbally and using the information to

answer several questions. • See slide 8 a “Keep in mind” thought about The Listening Comprehension Test 2

On the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals (CELF-5) if a student scores poorly on The Understanding Spoken Paragraphs subtests….Slide 2

2. Test of Problem Solving–3 Elementary: Normative Update (TOPS-3E: NU) , for ages 6-0 through 12-11, which looks at critical thinking skills:

• Giving a logical explanation about a situation, combining what is known with previous experiences and background information.

• Determining and explaining logical, everyday sequences of events, such as what one needs to know or do before taking action in a situation.

• Telling why a particular action should not be taken in a specific situation. •  Recognizing the problem, thinking of alternative solutions, evaluating options,

and stating an appropriate solution. • Grasping a situation and making a likely prediction about what will happen if an

action is taken. • Giving a logical reason for an aspect of a situation occurring in a photograph.

On The Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals (CELF-5) if a student scores very poorly on The Understanding Spoken Paragraphs subtest…. (a “keep in mind” thought on The Listening Comprehension Test 2)

• Keep in mind that the passages on The Understanding Spoken Paragraphs subtest are much longer (100 words or more) than the short 35- 50 word passages on the The Listening Comprehension Test 2. This means that a student may score better on The Listening Comprehension Test 2 than on the Understanding Spoken Paragraphs subtest.

• This is a factor to consider in that this test may not yield beneficial information for some students. Certain students may perform adequately when the passages are shorter but struggle significantly more with listening to lengthy passages in the classroom and answering questions.

• This is because as the length and complexity of the orally presented material increases, the student’s weaknesses in auditory processing of information may emerge.

• If you do administer The Understanding Spoken Paragraphs subtest, for which the student performs below the 10th percentile and The Listening Comprehension Test 2, for which the student does not perform below the tenth percentile. It is important to explain in your summary that as the length and complexity of the orally presented material increases, the student’s weaknesses in auditory processing of information are more evident.

Teacher/Parent concerns in Auditory Processing/Comprehension and/or the child’s Receptive Language Index score on the CELF-5 is low or the student does not score well on some or all of the following subtests on the CELF-5 (“Word Classes”, “Following Directions,” “Semantic Relationships, ” and/or “Understanding Spoken Paragraphs”)….

Tests to use:1. TAPS-4: A Language Processing Skills Assessment , (for ages 5 through 21), provides information about language processing and comprehension skills across three intersecting areas: phonological processing, auditory memory, and listening comprehension. It provides critical information about higher order language skills that support the development of effective listening and communication abilities. The test looks at:

• Processing Oral Directions: The student hears a short scenario that contains a direction and then is asked what the person in the scenario is supposed to do.

• Word Discrimination: The student hears a word pair and is asked to identify whether the words are the same or different. Word discrimination is a basic phonological awareness skill.

• Phonological Deletion: The student is asked to say a word, and then to say it again with an indicated syllable or a phoneme deleted. (For example, “Say ‘airplane’- now say it again but don't say ‘air’). Phonological deletion is a phonemic awareness skill important for the development of reading and spelling.

• Phonological Blending: The student hears a series of phonemes and is asked to combine them into a word. Phonological blending is also a phonemic awareness skill important for the development of reading and spelling.

• Syllabic Blending: The student is asked to combine a set of individual syllables to form a nonsense word.

Teacher/Parent concerns in Auditory Processing/Comprehension and/or the child’s Receptive Language Index score on the CELF-5 is low or the student does not score well on some or all of the following subtests on the CELF-5 (“Word Classes”, “Following Directions,” “Semantic Relationships, ” and/or “Understanding Spoken Paragraphs”)…. Continued (second slide)

Tests to use:1. TAPS-4: A Language Processing Skills Assessment The test also looks at:

• Auditory Figure-Ground: The student hears information about a direction and then is asked to answer a question about the direction. It is similar to Subtest 1, however the directions are presented with background noise.

• Number Memory Forward: The student hears a series of single digit numbers and is asked to repeat them in the same order. The Number Memory Forward subtest taps short-term memory and may also require working memory for longer sequences.

• Number Memory Reversed: The student hears a series of numbers and is asked to repeat them back in reversed order.

• Word Memory: The student hears a series of words and is asked to repeat them in the same order. Word memory is also primarily a measure of short-term memory, and it may also require working memory for longer sequences.

• Sentence Memory: The student hears a sentence and is asked to repeat the sentence exactly how it was said. Sentence memory also relies heavily on syntactic knowledge.

• Auditory Comprehension: The student hears a short passage and is then ask to answer questions about the passage. This subtest contains items that test a variety of ‘wh and ‘how’ questions, along with items that include inferential and figurative language.

• Understanding of implied meanings, making inferences, or coming to logical conclusions given information presented in sentences.

Teacher/Parent concerns in Auditory Processing/Comprehension and/or the child’s Receptive Language Index score on the CELF-5 is low or the student does not score well on some or all of the following subtests on the CELF-5 (“Word Classes”, “Following Directions,” “Semantic Relationships, ” and/or “Understanding Spoken Paragraphs”)…. Continued (third slide)

Tests to use:2. The Listening Comprehension Test 2 (see description on slide 6)

• The Listening Comprehension Test 2 has passages of 50 words on average in each passage and the subtest, Understanding Spoken Paragraphs, on the CELF-5 has passages of 100 or more words on average. A student may score better on The Listening Comprehension Test 2 than on the Understanding Spoken Paragraphs subtest.

• This is because as the length and complexity of the orally presented material increase, the student’s weaknesses in auditory processing of information may emerge.

• see slide 8 as well

On the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals (CELF-5) if a student scores poorly on The Formulated Sentences subtest….

You should administer:• Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals (CELF-5) Metalinguistics

(age 9 and 21)• To rule out weaknesses in higher level language skills involving

semantics. • This test looks at the student’s performance in academic and

social situations, such as making inferences, predictions, and using multiple meanings, using figurative language and appropriate conversational skills. It looks at:• Constructing conversationally appropriate sentences• Understanding word-level and sentence-level

ambiguity/manipulating conversational speech given a context

• Using words in multiple ways• Using language in a non-literal manner

On the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals (CELF-5) if a student scores poorly on The Formulated Sentences subtest…. (slide 2)

You could also administer:• The Elementary Word Test 3 The Elementary Word Test -3 assesses expressive vocabulary and

semantic abilities. (age 6 -11; 11)• It measures recognition and expression of the critical attributes of words and determines

how the student attaches meaning to words: categorizing, defining, verbal reasoning, and choosing appropriate words are all indicative of a student’s grasp of word meanings

• The authors of this test selected vocabulary items from published word lists in current reading series, vocabulary materials, and other elementary curricular materials.  

• It looks at:• Choosing the one unrelated word among four words. (e.g., “Which word doesn’t belong

and why not: sun, cloud, star, tree”). • Expressing a word that means the same as each stimulus word presented.• Identifying and repairing the incongruity of an absurd statement. • Expressing a one-word opposite for each stimulus word. • Explanation of meanings of words.• Expressing two different meanings for each stimulus word.

On the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals (CELF-5) if a student scores poorly on The Formulated Sentences subtest…. (slide 3)

You could also administer:• Expressive Language Test-Second Edition Normative Update (ELT-2:NU) , which assesses oral

expressive language skills for students. (Ages: 5;0-11;11)• It looks at:

• Sequencing tasks measure narrative ability. A low score is an important predictor of academic strength.

• Metalinguistics tasks tap students’ awareness of, and ability to express, the meanings of words and to use those words in context. Students with expressive language disorders may not have the vocabulary, or know how to focus more discretely on the set of features that belong to a word, to do well on these tasks.

• Morphology/Syntax measures the ability to repair a grammatical or syntactical error and rearrange words into a sentence. Deficits in these areas affect a student’s ability to communicate meaningfully.

• Defining Categories measures the ability to give verbal definitions and is well recognized as a strong correlate of academic success and literacy attainment.

(This is a new favorite test of mine that really strongly correlates with difficulty performing in class.)

Teacher/Parent concerns in pragmatic language/social skills/Social Thinking skills -slide 1

Test to use:Social Language Development Test Elementary (SLDT-E:NU); ( for ages 6-0 through ) assesses language-based skills of social interpretation and interaction with friends. It measures the language required to:

• appropriately infer and express what another person is thinking or feeling within a social context

• make multiple interpretations • take mutual perspectives• negotiate with and support their peers.

Teacher/Parent concerns in pragmatic language/social skills/Social Thinking skills -slide 2

Test to use:Clinical Assessment of Pragmatics (CAPs); ( for ages 7 through 18 years) gives comprehensive information on pragmatic language skills and social language development of children and young adults

• performance tests are based on digital video scenes• scaled scores and percentiles for each of the 6 tests; standard scores and

percentiles for 3 index scores (Pragmatic Judgment, Pragmatic Performance, Paralinguistic) and 1 overall score (Core Pragmatic Language Composite)

• The CAPs helps identify pragmatic language deficits as well as strengths and weaknesses and determine the degree of the pragmatic language deficits .

Tracking progress on basic objectives with standardized testing ….

After speech and language therapy regarding basic concepts, students often show their progress with more typical scores on subtests on the two tests below:

1. The Elementary Word Test 3 The Elementary Word Test -3 • assesses expressive vocabulary and semantic abilities. (see slide 13 for details of test)

2. The Language Processing Test 3 (LPT-3) • The "Associations" subtest  requires the naming of items that are typically associated with specific nouns presented ("Tell me a

word that goes with scissors.") • The "Categorization" subtest requires the student to name three distinctly different objects which share similar features when

verbally presented with a specific category. ("Name three things you read.") • The "Similarities" subtest requires students to state how two objects are alike ("Tell how sink and bathtub are the same.”) • The "Differences" subtest of the LPT-3 requires the student to explain how two objects are different ("Tell how sink and bathtub are

different.") • The "Multiple Meanings" assesses the ability to recognize and define a word in varying context. Each item is presented in three

different sentence contexts. For this subtest, the student must state appropriate synonyms or definitions for each stimulus word. • The "Attributes" subtest evaluates the student's ability to express the specific attributes of function, components, color,

accessories/necessities, size/shape, category, composition, and location/origin. The student is asked to spontaneously describe a specific noun ("Tell me all about a butterfly.").

CASL-2...

Comprehensive Assessment of Spoken Language 2 (CASL-2)• is an individually and orally administered, research-based,

theory-driven oral language assessment battery for ages 3 through 21.

• has 14 stand-alone individually administered performance tests

• 14 tests measure language processing skills—comprehension, expression, and retrieval—in four language structure categories: Lexical/Semantic, Syntactic, Supralinguistic, and Pragmatic.

CASL-2… (a Critique) Comprehensive Assessment of Spoken Language 2 (CASL-2)• Negatives:

• I have found that many students who are struggling to function and express themselves in the classroom, but have some compensatory skills, score higher on many of the parts of the CASL-2 than you might expect that they would based on how significantly they struggle in class, so it does not capture the extent of the difficulties of some students.

• The Pragmatic Language tests on the CASL-2 has a focus on manners rather than Social Thinking skills. If students understand what it is to have good manners, they will not score poorly on this subtest, even though they may have significant social/critical thinking difficulties in the classroom setting. Assessing these students with the SLDT-E:NU or CAPs will help you to adequately describe the nature and severity of students’ social thinking difficulties. (See slide 15-16for more info).

• A positive:• I do like the stand alone The Nonliteral Language Test, which shows a student’s ability to understand

the meaning of spoken sentences without relying on the literal interpretation. Figurative speech, indirect requests and sarcasm are the forms presented. This helps to further document students’ difficulty with higher order language.

Language Tests normed for Pre-k….

• As students age out of the preschool disabled program, they often need to be tested at age 4 so their testing is completed by age 5.

• Here is a list of many testing options so that there is a better chance of an SLS capturing and documenting the true strengths and weaknesses of a student. To me, the (CELF-Preschool-2) would give the most useful information regarding strengths and weaknesses for planning appropriate goals and objectives.

• Overall tests of Language:• Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-Preschool-2 (CELF-Preschool-2) (age 3 and up) • The Test of Language Development-Primary (TOLD-P:4) (age 4 and up)• Preschool Language Scales, Fifth Edition(PLS-5) (birth and up)•  Test of Early Language Development, Third Edition (2;0 to 7;11 years)• TELD-4: Test of Early Language Development–Fourth Edition ( age 2 and up)• Comprehensive Assessment of Spoken Language 2 (CASL-2) (also has the semantic and pragmatic piece.

The pragmatic piece mainly focuses a bit on good manners not Social Thinking Skills) ( age 3 and up)

Language Test normed for Pre-K…. (Slide 2)

• Tests for Auditory Comprehension:• Test for Auditory Comprehension of Language – Fourth Edition (TACL 4) (age 3 and 12.11)• TAPS-4: A Language Processing Skills Assessment (for ages 5 through 21)

• Vocabulary tests:• Expressive One-Word-Picture Vocabulary Test, Fourth Edition (EOWPVT-4) (2-0 through 80+)• Receptive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test, Fourth Edition (ROWPVT-4) ((2-0 through 80+)• Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, Fourth Edition (PPVT-4) (2:6 - 90+Years))

• Expressive language test:• Expressive Language Test-Second Edition Normative Update (ELT-2:NU) (Ages: 5;0-11;11)

If the Student has a Language Disorder…..

• It is the responsibility of the SLS to thoroughly document:•The severity of the language disorder•The students strengths and weaknesses• Rank the weaknesses in terms of severity/importance to be addressed in order to make the most appropriate goals/objectives

If the Student has a language Disorder…..(Slide 2)

• It is the responsibility of the SLS to:• Inform the staff (the regular classroom teacher, ASI teacher, Resource

teacher, aides) of the nature of the students language weaknesses• Offer staff materials to improve the student’s weaknesses such as the

Visualizing and Verbalizing program with training or the Expanding Expression Tool (EET) with training

• Train the staff to work with the student to improve weaknesses and give strategies to help the student compensate for language difficulties

• This involves working with staff through monitoring/providing techniques to help the student function better communicatively in the classroom

After language testing, if the student does not have a language disorder, but has language weaknesses…

It is the responsibility of the SLS to:• Inform the staff (the regular classroom teacher, ASI teacher, Resource

teacher, aides) of the nature of the student’s language weaknesses• Offer staff materials to improve the student’s weaknesses such as the

Visualizing and Verbalizing program with training or the Expanding Expression Tool (EET) with training

• Train the staff to work with the student to improve weaknesses and give strategies to help the student compensate for areas of difficulty

• This involves working with staff through monitoring/providing techniques to help the student function better communicatively in the classroom