Ch.2 Flashcards
Importance of a LSA
supplement of alternative to standardized testing
identify strengths, difficulties, emerging abilities
severity of difficulties
impact on educational performance, need for special services
inform intervention
-allows us to look at the whole spectrum of their skills
Authentic assessment and intervention (LSA)
mandated in IDEA
LSA takes a lot more time than standardized tests, a lot of SLPs veer away from it
definition of assessment
a complex process that results in understanding the child’s communication needs, a plan for intervention, and a report
goal: to ask questions and gather data
Norm-refernced tests
compares the child’s abilities to same age peers
a “snapshot”; child with a language impairment will demonstrate below average performance
efficient to administer; admin in an unfamiliar context
can over identify minority groups
does not identify specific intervention targets
assess subdomain 2 and 4
criterion-referenced
how can this child perform on a particular communicative or academic task?
compare a child’s performance with a standard
items are organized in a developmental sequence
intervention goal setting; protocols not well defined
useful across all domains; simple to score
appropriate tool to document progress
dynamic assessment
can this child respond to instruction?
nonstatic assessment approach
identifies the skills that an individual possess and learning potential; uses a short term teaching session to determine if a child can learn a new task
useful for a child from a culturally and linguistically diverse background
combo of assessment tools
identify if a child does or doesn’t have a language impairment (via. norm reference)
identify specific targets for intervention (criterion ref, LSA, or developmental checklists)
decide if a child has a language difference or disorder (via dynamic assessment)
validity
the assessment instrument measures what it says it measures
construct validity
refers to the underlying theory on which the instrument is based
content validity
degree to which the test items represent a defined domain
criterion validity
degree to which the results of one test align with other tests
predictive validity
refers to how well a test score will predict a student’s future performance results
reliability
the degree to which a test is free from errors of measurement across forms, raters, time, and within an instrument
bell-shaped curve
normal distribution of scores
standard scores
transformed raw scores
standard deviation
the spread of scores around the mean
MLU is often computed by..
LSA
Number of different words
(LSA quantitative tools) its a quantitative analysis of semantics; levels of vocab diversity
compares the students NDW with normative data
T-unit analysis
(with school-aged students) main clause with all the subordinate clauses and non clausal phrases attached or embedded within the sentence
older children with language impairment often produce run on sentences linked with coordinating conjunctions
important component of written language assessment for older students
Qualitative language analysis
what difference do i see in the quality of a child’s language?
compare the individual’s language output with a language-age match- a chronologically younger individual with an equilvant MLU
microanalysis considers wach utterance as it stands alone
microanalysis (qualitative)
includes an analysis of the child’s pragmatic abilities, semantic abilities, and morphosyntax skills at the utterance-by-utterance level
macroanalysis (qualitative) for beginners
evaluates discourse, pragmatic, semantic, and morphosyntax
completes a qualitative semantic analysis
grammatical analysis
macroanalysis for later-language learners
segments language output into T-units documents use of complex sentences mazing analysis (for children with LI)
macrolevel discourse skills
topic control topic maintenance conversational repair informativeness conjunctive cohesion
discourse
turn taking at a higher level of conversation
repairing conversation
recognizing a break down in the conversation and can fix it (if the listener doesn’t understand)
assessment process
screening
gathering background info
administering the assessments
summarizing results and writing the report
components of the assessment
evaluates all communication components and describes the individual’s abilities in the diagnostic report (speech motor, speech/articulation, phonological assessment and phono awareness, cognitive ability, rate and fluency of speech)
assessing performance in subdomain 1
look at the pragmatic functions (are they using just one, more than one)- if they are just agreeing or disagreeing there may be a problem- make sure you are getting the child to show these skills
assessing performance in subdomain 2
NDW calculation (bringing in different toys and playing with different things, naming different colors, sizes, shapes, animals, etc)
assessing performance in subdomain 3
MLU calculation (how many words in a sentence) - ex. giving the child a word and see if they can form a sentence or show them different pictures and have them describe what is happening in the picture
assessing performance in subdomain 4
what Brown’s morphemes are present and are they age appropriate (ex. asking a child to complete a sentence while they were previously given the morpheme to use- the boy is running, what is the girl doing? supposed to say: the girl is running)
assessing performance in subdomain 5
looking at content of sample and making judgements about your observation of the child (turn taking skills, did they give background info)- ex. longer conversation with the child
synthesize the results
does the child have language impairment?
what language domains are impaired (form, content, use)
does the child demonstrate consistency of ability across testing procedures?
what are the child’s strengths and weaknesses in communicating?
what are the most important communication behaviors that limit the child’s everyday functioning?
counseling the family
summarize the info provided by families in first interview
avoid the use of jargon and unfamiliar terms
provide feedback on child’s behavior during assessment
explain the assessment process
describe the child’s language strengths
describe the child’s language problems
writing the report
clearly summarize the findings
use a report style that is consistent with the form-content-use language model
avoid using jargon and unfamiliar terms
provide an explanation for an individual’s varying ability across assessment
