Social Language Development Test - Elementary (SLDT-E)

Many children with language impairment (LI) exhibit poor social interaction with others. These differences may appear as early as preschool and continue or intensify as these children mature.

The Social Language Development Test Elementary is designed to assess language-based skills of social interpretation and interaction with friends, the skills found to be most predictive of social language development. You will gain insight into your student's social understanding and social language competency.

Test Description
Many children perform well on traditional language tests, yet their social language skills are inadequate. This test will substantiate the influence of your students' language disorders on their social disorders and qualify them for therapy.

The test assesses students' language-based responses to portrayed, peer-to-peer situations which is unlike other tests which rely on observation forms.

The test assesses the language required to appropriately infer and express what another person is thinking or feeling within a social context, to make multiple interpretations, take mutual perspectives, and negotiate with and support their peers.

Test tasks reflect the developmental refinement of social language comprehension and expression and differentiate typically-developing children from those with language learning disorders or autism.

Subtests
Subtests consist of question-answering tasks, interpretations of photographed scenes, and verbal explanations.

• Subtest A: Making Inferences
The student infers what someone in a picture is thinking. There are two questions per item. The first question asks the student to pretend he is the person in the photo and to make an inference about what the person would be thinking. This question examines the student's ability to use the information from facial features, body language, and context to respond. The second question asks the student to say what information from the photo he used to make the inference.
• Subtest B: Interpersonal Negotiations
The student pretends he is in conflict with a peer. There are three tasks. The student must identify the problem, propose an appropriate resolution, and explain why that resolution is mutually satisfactory.
• Subtest C: Multiple Interpretations
The student shows flexible thinking by giving two different, plausible interpretations of the same photo.
• Subtest D: Supporting Peers
The student pretends he is in a situation with a peer. The student tells what to say in reaction to the friend's situation. The degree of support given to the friend, not the truthfulness of the response is examined in this subtest.

Examiner Qualifications
The test should be administered by a trained professional familiar with language disorders (e.g., speech-language pathologist, psychologist).

Test Procedures

• Begin with the demonstration item of the first subtest, Making Inferences. When you are confident the student knows how to respond, proceed to item 1 in a conversational tone. Continue until the test is administered in its entirety. Every subtest begins with a demonstration item. This item can be altered or explained to show the student how to respond. Complete the remaining subtests in the same manner. Because basals and ceilings are not used in the SLDT E, the test is administered in its entirety to every student.
• Subtest A: Making Inferences and Subtest C: Multiple Interpretations require the use of the Picture Stimuli Book.
• Some prompting is allowed. If the student's response is unclear, use the prompts provided on the test form. These prompts are not used to give the student "a second chance" after a clear, complete but incorrect response.
• Item repetition is allowed only if the student does not respond to a test item or requests a repetition. Items may not be reworded or paraphrased at any time.

Scoring/Types of Scores
Specific scoring guidelines for each test item are provided in detail in the Scoring Standards & Example Responses Book. Acceptable and unacceptable responses are also referenced on the test form.

• Scoring for subtests A and C are 1 or 0 for correct/incorrect responses. For subtests B, 3, 2, 1, or 0 scores are assigned. For subtest D, a score of 4, 3, 2, 1, or 0 are assigned to each response, based on relevancy and quality.
• The Criteria for full credit/correct responses are:
- Subtest A: Making Inferences—A direct quote in the first person, that is relevant to the person's situation plus a specific, relevant clue from the picture. The first person is required to receive a score of 1 regardless of the content of the response.
- Subtest B: Interpersonal Negotiation—The student must state the problem from a mutual perspective, propose an appropriate solution that refers to making a mutual decision, and offer a solution that refers to maintaining the friendship to receive a score of 3.
- Subtest C: Multiple Interpretations—A correct response is two different and plausible interpretations of the same photo.
- Subtest D: Supporting Peers—A correct response that shows strong support said out of politeness or kindness receives a score of 4.
• Raw scores convert to:
- Age Equivalents
- Percentile Ranks
- Standard Scores
Discussion of Performance
The Discussion of Performance section found in the Examiner's Manual was developed to guide the examiner to make appropriate and educationally-relevant recommendations for remediation based on a clear understanding of each subtest.

The skills students need to be successful on each subtest and each task within a subtest are delineated and applied to academic performance and peer interactions.

Error patterns are identified and the implications for why the student responded incorrectly are given.

General remediation strategies you can incorporate immediately into your therapy program or ask teachers and parents to do are also included.

Standardization and Statistics
Two studies were conducted on the Social Language Development Test Elementary: the item pool and standardization studies.

The item pool study consisted of 390 subjects. The test was standardized on 1,104 subjects that represented the latest National Census for race, gender, age, and educational placement. In addition, 352 subjects with language learning disorders and autism spectrum disorders were used in the validity studies.

• Reliability—established by the use of the following for all subtests and the total test at all age levels:
- SEM
- Inter-Rater Reliability
- Test-Retest
- Reliability Based on Item Homogeneity (KR20)
The test-retest coefficient is .79 for the total test, the SEM is 11. 26 for the total test and the KR20 coefficient is .93. Given the uniqueness of the test, the clinical population, and scoring criteria, the reliability is considered highly satisfactory.

• Validity—established by the use of construct and contrasted group validity.
- Contrast Groups (t-values)
- Point Biserial Correlations
- Subtest Intercorrelations
- Correlations Between Subtests and Total Test
Results revealed highly satisfactory levels of item consistency (88%). Internal consistency estimates are clearly satisfactory. The test differentiates students with language disorders or autism spectrum disorders from students developing language normally.

• Race/Socioeconomic Group Difference Analyses—conducted at the item and subtest levels. The analysis of performance differences among race/socioeconomic groups was conducted at the subtest level.
- Z-tests Chi Square analysis at the subtest level
- Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) F-tests
The low percentage (1%) for race and small number of race/SES differences, indicate that neither is a strong impact on the Social Language Development Test Elementary at the item level