(TELD-4) Test of Early Language Development- Fourth Edition
by Wayne P. Hresko, PhD, D. Kim Reid and Donald D. Hammill, EdD
BENEFIT
Measures language delays (compared to age-related peers), to determine language strengths and weaknesses, and to track a child’s progress.
FORMAT
Individual
ADMIN TIME
15 to 45 minutes
AGES
3 years to 7 years, 11 months
PUBLISH DATE
2017
The Test of Early Language Development (TELD-4) is a highly reliable and valid measure of spoken language. Like the previous edition, the test yields Receptive Language and Expressive Language subtest index scores, as well as a Spoken Language index score. The TELD-4 was standardized on a nationally representative sample of 1,074 children.
TELD-4’s psychometric qualities:
Demographics: The TELD-4 was standardized on a representative sample of 1,074 children representing 32 states and 292 different zip codes.
Reliability: Extensive studies of test reliability (coefficient alpha, test-retest, immediate and delayed alternate forms, and interscorer) support the use of the TELD-4 with individual students. Average coefficient alphas for the full normative sample range from .95 to .97 for subtests and the composite.
Validity: Content-description validity was established through careful selection of items, controlled vocabulary, construct review by a panel of language experts, and conventional item analysis, as well as analysis of the test floors, ceilings, and item gradients, and differential item functioning. Criterion-prediction validity was established by (a) correlating TELD-4 standard scores with commercially available measures of reading ability (i.e., PLS-5, TACL-4, and TEXL), (b) comparing means and standard deviations between the TELD-4 and criterion tests, and (c) computing sensitivity, specificity, and ROC/AUC statistic. Construct-identification validity was established by studying (a) the relationship of the TELD-4 standardized scores with age, academic achievement, and intelligence; (b) the ability of the test’s standard scores to differentiate groups with known language problems from those without such problems; and (c) the factorial fit of the subtests to the construct in the test model (i.e., spoken language).
Limiting bias: The TELD-4 was examined using differential item functioning techniques. Further, a wide range of both mainstream and minority populations, including gender, racial, ethnic, linguistic, and disability categories, was included in the normative sample. Finally, reliability and validity information is provided for different mainstream and minority subgroups.
COMPLETE TELD-4 KIT INCLUDES: Examiner’s Manual, Picture Book, 25 Examiner Record Booklets Form A, and 25 Examiner Record Booklets Form B, all in a sturdy storage box.