Even though standardized test scores should not be used to determine or diagnose disability, quantification is required to demonstrate that a child should receive services. Depending on the district, city, and state laws, a child with a certain percentage of delay in one or more domains is eligible to receive related services or to be placed in special education. It is the evaluator’s job to use his or her clinical judgement to determine percentage of delay if it exists. Read More
Author: Leaders Project
Understanding Assessment: Assessment Materials- Fast Mapping
Fast mapping is a type of novel word-learning, dynamic assessment used in evaluating preschool and school-aged children. Read More
Understanding Assessment: Assessment Materials- Language Sample
Language sampling is an essential part of any speech and language evaluation and research has shown it to be less biased against culturally and linguistically diverse children than standardized tests. Information presented in the language sample will consist of utterances collected from the parent interview in critical question 9 as well as language elicited during the evaluation. Read More
Understanding Assessment: The Importance of Clinical Judgement
Clinical judgment is the knowledge an evaluator develops over years of practice and ongoing education about typical language development and second language acquisition in a certain community. Read More
Understanding Assessment: Bias Towards Individuals with Motor, Attention, Memory, and Other Disabilities
Bias towards individuals with disabilities, such as ADHD or cerebral palsy, can result in the mislabeling of these individuals as being language impaired or intellectually disabled. The examiner may exhibit bias against those with these disabilities for several reasons. Read More
Understanding Assessment: Methods for Evaluating Socioeconomic Status
Socioeconomic status (SES) affects cultural perspective and speech and language development and can be found in testing materials and the evaluator’s interpretation of assessment performance. Read More
Report Writing: Background
It is important to be as thorough as possible when writing the background section of the evaluation as extenuating circumstances could explain a delay in language development and also help the evaluator differentiate between a delay, disorder, or normal language development, given the circumstances. Read More
Understanding Assessments: Reliability of Tests
Reliability is the degree of consistency of measurement in a test. A test has a high degree of reliability if it produces similar results consistently under similar conditions. Read More
