Teaching · Speech & Language

Decide what a standard score can bear before it goes in the report.

Answer six questions from the technical manual, note how the test was given and what got in the way. The summary counts the threats to validity, says whether to report the scores as standardized, with cautions or descriptively, and names what the evaluation still needs.

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Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Speech & Language toolkit, $79 for 72 items.

The checklist

One record per student and test. Use initials or a code, never a name. The example is made up.

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What you get

Teaching · Speech & Language$5 · included with Classroom and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
For each test given to a student, a written judgment of how far the scores can be trusted, the threats to validity, and the requirements still to meet.
Who it is for
Speech-language pathologists and other evaluators reporting standardized results, especially for multilingual students and speakers of other dialects of English.
Format
Browser checklist completed with the test manual open. Several saved records per student, one per test; printed with the summary or as a blank checklist; CSV; export and import a file.
Access
$5 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Speech & Language toolkit ($79) and the Teaching Suite pass ($199), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Speech & Language space in Caveat Teaching.
Support
Questions about an order, access or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.
who was in the norms
Drawn for this page. A standard score compares a student with the norm group; it only means something if that group fits the student.

How to use it

  1. Start a record with the student’s initials or a code and the test date.
  2. Name the test, its purpose, and the student’s languages and dialect.
  3. Answer the fit questions from the technical manual.
  4. Record how the test was given and anything that got in the way.
  5. Tick the other evidence and copy the cautions into your report.

Check a test

What the checklist is for

Why fit matters

A standard score says where a student falls compared with the norm group. If students like this one were not in that group, or the test was given differently from the norm group, the comparison breaks down, however carefully the test was scored.

Dialect and language

Features of a dialect such as African American English are rule-governed and are not errors. A student learning English may score low on an English test because of exposure, not a disorder. Dynamic assessment and a language sample help separate the two.

What this is not

The checklist records reasoning. It does not score a test, apply norms or decide eligibility; the evaluation team decides, from several sources.

Sources

  1. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act regulations, 34 CFR 300.304 (evaluation procedures: a variety of tools, no single measure, nondiscriminatory assessment in the child’s language).
  2. American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association and National Council on Measurement in Education (2014). Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing.
  3. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Practice Portal: Bilingual Service Delivery, and Cultural Responsiveness.
  4. Plante, E., and Vance, R. (1994). Selection of preschool language tests: A data-based approach. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 25(1), 15 to 24 (diagnostic accuracy of 80% or more).

The example student and test are made up. The checklist supports the clinician’s judgment; it does not diagnose or decide eligibility. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.