Tuesday, February 12, 2019

Describing language assessment for school-aged children: A Delphi study

Denman, D., Kim, J., Munro, N., Speyer, R., & Cordier, R. (2018). Describing language assessment for school-aged children: A Delphi study. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 1-11.

The recent CATALISE studies reported a consensus for identification and terminology for children with persistent language difficulties with a significant functional or educational impact. A number of important questions follow on from the consensus statement. The purpose of this statement was to investigate the different types or purposes of language assessments completed by speech-language pathologists (SLPs).

Informed by current evidence and conversation, the researchers developed a taxonomy for assessment that included (1) modality/domain, (2) purpose, (3) delivery, and (4) form. A group of 55 Australian SLPs agreed with this taxonomy on each of 2 rounds of a Delphi survey. In rounds 2 and 3 of the survey, participants were also asked to assign categories based on the taxonomy for 2 case studies. Although lower, agreement for these categorizations reached the established consensus target. SLPs often went beyond the details of the case to explain how one aspect of assessment could fit different categories.

The taxonomy reveals the multiple purposes and types of assessments completed by SLPs. SLPs often move flexibly across assessment purposes and types in order to address questions arising in an assessment.

Blogger: Lisa Archibald

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