speech screening write up

Dr. Karen Speech and Language

Language Therapy and Leadership for Pediatric Clinicians

The SLP’s Guide to Language Screenings

If you’re an slp working with school-age kids, students with language disorders might take up a good portion of your caseload..

That’s why one of the most common questions that pops up in the groups of SLPs that I mentor is how to do a good language screening.

Common questions include things like:

“What language screening tool should I use?”

“How do I know when to initiate a language evaluation?”

“What if I don’t think the screening results are accurate or don’t have access to a good language screener?”

“What should I do if people are pressuring me to evaluate when I don’t think it’s appropriate (or not evaluate, when I think I should)?”

“What if I think other domains need to be evaluated besides language?”

Today I’m going to answer those questions.

We’ll start out with when to get consent, then move to screening tools, and follow-up with the decision-making process.

When to get parental consent for screenings

Schools do a lot of different screenings to identify which students might need supplemental support.

Some require that we get special consent to screen, while others don’t.

You need to know when to get that consent so you can ensure you stay compliant.

Information about evaluation and screening procedures as outlined by Individuals with Disabilities in Education at of 2004 (IDEA, 2004) can be found in Subpart D , but you’ll also want to be familiar with your state and district regulations.

Based on the IDEA (2004) regulations, you do not need to get consent if ALL the students are getting the same treatment.

For example, districts often administer benchmark screenings to ALL students to identify students in need of Tier 2 interventions.

Staff also may do grade-level assessments, or even assessments with specific classes.

In this case, if these procedures are being done with all the kids in that district, grade, or class, we do not need to get consent to stay in compliance with IDEA (2004).

Parents will typically be notified of screenings and results, but they do not get special consent because it’s part of the standard general education protocol.

Now let’s say you have a student who is struggling.

They’ve completed the district-wide screening, and staff have concerns. They want you to do a formal language screening.

In this case, the student is getting something above and beyond standard general education protocol.

IDEA (2004) requires you to get consent for special education evaluations and to provide special education services, so a general rule of thumb is that you’d also want to get consent for a screening to consider a special education evaluation.

Since state laws may vary, I recommend going ahead and getting consent to cover your bases if you’re going to formally screen, observe, or consult with the teacher for the purposes of determining if an evaluation is needed.

So that that we’ve covered our bases legally, let’s talk about how to actually do that screening.

How I do a formal language screening?

When we think of a “language screening”, most people think of some kind of test.

However, we need to shift our focus from thinking of screening as a “test”, or “tool”…because it’s not.

A screening isn’t a “test”.  It’s a process that help us to determine if there are enough red flags to warrant an evaluation.

That means it can involve a number of different tasks and tools that help us come to an educated decision.

This way, we have checks and balances in the system; so we aren’t basing our decision on one test score.

Those test scores of course play a part in our decision, but we want to use multiple sources of information so we’re getting the full picture, not just a contrived snapshot.

There are a handful of language screeners out there, some that are standardized, and some that aren’t.

I’m going to make some recommendations for formal screeners, plus some non-standardized tasks you can do to supplement those.

There are a number of good screeners out there.

The one that I used most in the school was the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-5th Edition (CELF-5) Screening Test.

The CELF-5 screening gives a criterion score and is appropriate for students age 5:0 through 21:1, has an administration time of 15 minutes, and will give you a norm-based criterion score by age.

For younger students, there is also the Preschool Language Scale-5th Edition (PLS-5) Screening Test which is used to screen kids from birth to age 7:11, takes 5-10 minutes to administer, and will give you a norm-based criterion score for children ages 3:0-7:11.

Other SLPs may choose to supplement these with rating scales.

For example, the CELF-5 full evaluation kit has some supplemental scales you can give teachers to complete, and you can also use this Academic Language Skills-Rating Scale , which is part of the manual I offer my students in my Language Therapy Advance course .

Finally, it’s also a good idea to supplement these rating scales and formal assessments with non-standardized tasks if you need more information.

Non-standardized language tasks may include things like:

• Having kids retell stories or answer questions about paragraphs they’ve read or heard 
• Doing sentence repetition tasks
• Having kids answer questions about sentences with complex syntactic forms
• Having kids write/say vocabulary words in a sentence
• Having kids explain/define word meanings
• Doing blending/segmentation tasks
• Having kids follow directions with complex syntax/grammar/vocabulary

(Non-standardized assessment tasks taken from: Carrow-Woolfolk & Allen, 2014; Hammill & Newcomer, 2008; Kelm, Melby-Lervåg, Hagtvet, Lyster, Gustafsson, and Hulme, 2015; Newcomer & Hammill, 2008; Wigg, Semel, & Secord, 2013)

This is not an exhaustive list, nor is it required that you do ALL of these things.

Remember, this screening is supposed to identify RED FLAGS, not diagnose.

You’ll have the opportunity to dig deeper once you do a full evaluation.

The goal right now is to get enough information to be able to say, “There’s something going on here…and we need to look further in to it.”

Gathering Academic Data

We’ve all had those frustrating situations where a student failed a screening, but we know they weren’t putting for their full effort.

Many of us have had cases where the student “technically” passes based on the overall criterion, but we know we’re not getting the entire picture.

That’s why basing our decision on multiple pieces of information is best practice.

We might get this information from observations, interviewing teachers, and collecting work samples/academic data.

The goal is not to add hour of work to your plate, but rather to get enough information to make a good decision.

This is why I include a detailed checklist for gathering academic data in Language Therapy Advance.

Some of the things on that checklist include:

• Reading comprehension test scores
• Writing samples
• Extended written responses on tests
• Math assessment scores (especially word problems)
• Vocabulary assessments (content areas, language arts)

The point here is to get a sample of what’s going on with the student and play detective so you can determine if the student is struggling with any of the above; and most importantly if it could be due to a language issue.

The relationship between reading comprehension and vocabulary assessments is self-explanatory; and with any type of written work, you can get a feel for the student’s use of grammar, syntax, and vocabulary.

Even if there aren’t grammatical errors, if the student is writing much less than the other students, lacks complexity in their writing, or repeats the same sentence structures over and over again, that could be a red flag (Zipoli, 2017).

With math and other content areas, poor scores can often be due to not understanding the vocabulary in the test questions, or struggling to complete multiple directions at once (Wigg et al., 2013).

Look for indications in their answers to see if they responded in correctly because they didn’t understand the question.

When it comes to interviewing the teacher or anyone else working with the child, I recommend using some type of behavioral rating scale that asks the teacher to rate a student’s performance on language-related academic tasks.

The CELF-5 has one, or you could use a tool like this Academic Language Skills-Rating Scale that’s part of the manual that comes with Language Therapy Advance.

Rating scales like this can be used in a couple ways.

First, you can use them to structure the conversations you have with teachers or caregivers of the child you’re screening.

Another option is to simply give this form to the teachers, and have them fill it out.

A final option is to use rating scales as guide for reviewing the academic data you collect and for looking for specific behaviors if you were to do a classroom observation.

You can download the rating scale here to see an example of what things you’d want to look for.

Now that we’ve talked about the screening process, let’s talk about what to do once you’ve collected some data.

Clinical decision-making after the screening

Now that you have all the data, you might be asking yourself, “I’ve screened. Now what?”

According to Subpart D of IDEA (2004) , you need parental consent to initiate an evaluation; but before you do that you’re going to want to communicate with the other members of the special education team.

At my former district, we had a student problem solving team that would field all the academic referrals.

Typically, the screening process could look like this.

Step 1: Teacher comes to me with a concern; I get parental consent and collect screening data.

Step 2: The student is referred to the problem-solving team and at the next week, the teacher and I present our data.

Step 3: Once the team hears all the information we come to a decision about next steps.

Next steps could include things like:

• Starting a Tier 2 intervention in the students’ academic area of struggle and monitoring the student (and reconsidering an evaluation if progress is not made).
• Initiating a speech and language evaluation.
• Psychologist and/or social worker (or other personnel) collecting more screening information.
• Move to a full-case study evaluation to evaluate multiple domains.

I worked at the district I mentioned above for 14 years, and through that time I had a couple “rules” I established for myself as I went through those steps.

These “rules” helped reduce tension between staff about when a student should be evaluated.

They also reduced the number of students who slipped through the cracks as “speech and language only” students when it wasn’t appropriate.

Rule #1: Make friends with the other related service personnel.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard horror stories about SLPs and psychologists butting heads.

And I can’t tell you many times I avoided those disasters by having good communication with other related service personnel.

You may or may not have access to a problem-solving team at your district, so you might not have a formal referral team like I did.

In that case, your screening process could look very similar to what I described above; but instead of having a formal problem solving meeting, you might just have a conversation with your psychologist and/or social worker.

But the point is, whenever I have a language referral I was keeping the other related service personnel in the loop.

That way we could stay on the same page and avoid students falling through the cracks.

There were times that I did end up being the only personal evaluating, but only when that was the most appropriate thing for the student.

Rule #2: Don’t do a language evaluation until the student has been referred to the “problem solving team”.

In the past in my district, SLPs would simply bypass the problem-solving team and initiate a language evaluation.

However, I created the strict policy for myself that I would not go through with a language evaluation until I had an open dialogue with the entire problem solving team.

The purpose of this was to ensure that the student was going to be monitored by the team to ensure they’d get additional services if language therapy wasn’t enough.

This ensured that the other professionals, like the psychologist and social worker, were involved not just in the initial screening, but on an ongoing basis to track the students’ progress.

There were many times students qualified under “speech and language”, and then a year or two later qualified under a different eligibility because the other staff were aware of when we needed to reopen the evaluation.

Now for other areas like voice, fluency, or articulation; I was comfortable bypassing the team.

But if  there was a language concern, the team was always involved because those cases are more complex.

If you don’t have a problem-solving team at your district, you may simply adopt a “no language evaluation without an open conversation with (insert relevant personnel) policy.”

Rule #3: Don’t create excess work for yourself.

If you have enough information based on work samples, observations, and other academic data, you aren’t required to do a formal language screening.

IDEA (2004) Subpart D outlines that you need to use multiple sources of information, including formal test scores as part of an EVALUATION.

This is because you’re doing detailed diagnostic work during an evaluation.

But for a screening, all you’re doing is identifying red flags; so federal guidelines don’t require that you need to have certain scores in order to move to an evaluation (as always, you’ll want to be familiar with your state guidelines in case they’re more specific).

In fact, parents can simply request an evaluation in writing and you can move forward.

Do the screening if you need ADDITIONAL information; but it’s not a good use of time when you’re fairly certain an evaluation is inevitable.

Now that we’re wrapping up, I wanted to leave you with the takeaway that a screening is a PROCESS, not a TEST.

If you have this PROCESS down, you’ll be more effective than any test will ever be in isolation.

I go in to more details about the processes you need to treat language disorders effectively in my course,  Language Therapy Advance. 

That’s why I also include a detailed manual in this course that guides you through things like:

• How to stay on top of curricular standards, so you know you’re working on skills relevant to the curriculum.
• How to gather academic data for screenings, evaluations, and present levels statements efficiently, so you aren’t spending hours doing paperwork. 
• How to stay compliant with data collection without letting it take over your therapy sessions. 
• How to write language goals you can easily track, so you can easily measure progress.   
• Tips for keeping therapy planning efficient , so you spend less time prepping and more time helping your students. 

To get a sample of what’s included in the course manual, download the Academic Language Skills-Rating Scale so you can efficiently gather data for language screenings and evaluations.

Click here to download the rating scale.  

References:.

Carrow-Woolfolk, E., & Allen, E. A. (2014). Test of expressive language. Austin, TX: Pro-Ed.

Kelm, M., Melby-Lervåg, M., Hagtvet, B., Lyster,S. H., Gustafsson, J., & Hulme, C. (2015). Sentence repetition is a measure of children’s language skills rather than working memory limitations. Developmental Science, 18, 146-154. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12202

Hammill, D. D., Newcomer, P. L. (2008). Test of language development-Intermediate (4th Ed.). Austin, TX: Pro-Ed.

Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1400 (2004).

Newcomer, P. L., Hammill, D. D. (2008). Test of language development-Primary (4th Ed.) Austin, TX: Pro-Ed.

Wigg, E. H., Semel, E., & Secord, W. A. (2013). Clinical evaluation of language fundamentals (5th Edition). Bloomington, MN: Pearson, Inc.

Zimmerman, I. L., Steiner, V. G., Pond, R. E. (2013). Preschool language scale-Screening Test ( 5th Ed .) . Bloomington, MN: Pearson, Inc.

Zipoli, R. P. (2017). Unraveling difficult sentences: Strategies to support reading comprehension. Intervention in School and Clinic, 52, 218–227. doi: 10.1177/1053451216659465

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These speech therapy report templates and outlines will save you hours of time writing reports. 

Each listing gives the title, a description of what it tests for, blank data spaces for you to put the child's scores in, and conclusive statements for you to modify for each student/client. 

**A huge thank you to the Clark County School District (I'm looking at you Yves ;) in Las Vegas for sharing these with us.

**Additional thanks to Dr. KL Johnson from the University of North Texas, Cristina Tirotta, Elaine Mack, Satya, Nancy Sever Muniz, Christine Gerber, Heather Hitchcock, and Miss V.

The descriptions below can be copied and pasted into a Word Processor and then tweaked accordingly.

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Template Types

Last updated (Feb 2022) *Click the type of test you need below to see the available templates:

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Kaufman Speech Praxis Test for Children (KSPT)

Screening Test for Developmental Apraxia of Speech 

SEE ALSO:   The Best Books for Speech Therapy Practice

Arizona Articulation and Phonology Scale-Fourth Edition (AZ-4) (Arizona 4)

Clinical Assessment of Articulation and Phonology (CAAP)

Clinical Assessment of Articulation and Phonology-Second Edition (CAAP-2)

Contextual Probes of Articulation Competence (CPAC)

The Diagnostic Evaluation of Articulation and Phonology’s (DEAP)

Entire World of R-Advanced Screening for /R/

Fisher-Logemann Test of Articulation Competence

Goldman Fristoe Test of Articulation-2 (GFTA-2)

Goldman Fristoe Test of Articulation-Third Edition (GFTA-3)

LinguiSystems Articulation Test (LAT)

McDonald-Deep Test of Articulation

Photo Articulation Test-Third Edition (PAT-3)

Practical Test of Articulation and Phonology (PTAP)

Structured Photographic Articulation Test-Second Edition (SPAT-2)

SUNNY Articulation and Phonology Test Kit (SAPT)(Sunny)

Weiss Comprehensive Articulation Test (WCAT)

Assessment Link between Phonology and Articulation (ALPHA)

Assessment of Phonological Processes-Revised (APP-R)

Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing (CTOPP)

Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing - 2 (CTOPP-2)

Glaspey Dynamic Assessment of Phonology (GDAP)

The Hodson Assessment of Phonological Patterns-third edition (HAPP-3)

Khan-Lewis Phonological Analysis-2 (KLPA-2)

Khan-Lewis Phonological Analysis-3 (KLPA-3)

The Phonological Awareness Test-2

Auditory Processing Deaf Hard of Hearing

Auditory Processing Abilities Test (APAT) 

Carolina Picture Vocabulary Test for Deaf and Hearing Impaired (CPVT)

Renfrew Action Picture Test

Test of Auditory Processing Skills-Third Edition (TAPS-3)

Autism / Pragmatic Language

Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC)

Limited Non-Verbal and Verbal Observation Checklist

Component of Pragmatic Intent Observation Checklist

Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS)

Childhood Autism Rating Scale-Second Edition (CARS-2)

Conversational Effectiveness Profile-Revised (CEP-R)

Evaluating Acquired Skills in Communication (EASIC)

Evaluating Acquired Skills in Communication-Third Edition (EASIC-3)

Gilliam Asperger’s Disorder Scale (GADS)

Gilliam Autism Rating Scale (GARS)

Gilliam Autism Rating Scale-Third Edition (GARS-3)

Pragmatic Language Skills Inventory (PLSI)

Pragmatic Language Observation Scale (PLOS)

The Social Communication Questionnaire

Social-Emotional Evaluation (SEE)

Social Language Development Test-Adolescent: Normative Update (SLDT-A:NU)

Social Language Development Test-Elementary: Normative Update (SLDT-E:NU)

Test of Pragmatic Language (TOPL)

Test of Pragmatic Language-Second Edition (TOPL-2)

Early Childhood / Preschool

Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-Preschool (CELF-PRE)

Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals: Preschool-Third Edition (CELF:P-3)

Developmental Assessment of Young Children-Second Edition (DAYC-2) 

Fluharty Preschool Speech and Language Screening-Second Edition (Fluharty-2) 

Kindergarten Language Screening Test-Second Edition (KLST-2)

Preschool Language Assessment Instrument  (PLAI) 

Preschool Language Scale-4 (PLS-4)

Preschool Language Scale-5 (PLS-5)

Receptive-Expressive Emergent Language Test-Third edition (REEL-3)

Receptive-Expressive Emergent Language Test-Fourth Edition (REEL-4)

Rossetti Infant-Toddler Language Scale

Structured Photographic Expressive Language Test-Preschool (SPELT-P)

The Symbolic Play Test (2nd Edition)

Test of Early Language Development-Second Edition (TELD-2)

Test of Early Language Development-Fourth Edition (TELD-4)

Test of Preschool Vocabulary (TOPV)

Test of Pretend Play (TOPP)

The Westby Symbolic Play Scale

Wiig Assessment of Basic Concepts (WABC)

Behavior Assessment Battery for School-Aged children Who Stutter (BAB)

CALMS Assessment Inventory for Children Who Stutter

Overall Assessment of the Speaker’s Experience of Stuttering (OASES)

Stuttering Prediction Instrument for Young Children 

Stuttering Severity Instrument-Third edition (SSI-3)

Stuttering Severity Instrument-Fourth edition (SSI-4) 

Stuttering Severity Scale

Test of Childhood Stuttering (TOCS)

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Language - Comprehensive

Children’s Communication Checklist-2 (CCC-2)

Comprehensive Assessment of Spoken Language (CASL)

Comprehensive Assessment of Spoken Language-Second Edition (CASL-2)

Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-Fourth Edition (CELF-4)

Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-Fifth Edition (CELF-5)

The Early Functional Communication Profile

Fullerton Language Test for Adolescents-Second Edition

Functional Communication Profile

Functional Communication Profile-Revised 

Oral-Written Language Scales (OWLS)

Oral-Written Language Scales-2(OWLS-2)

Receptive, Expressive, & Social Communication Assessment-Elementary (RESCA-E)

The Renfrew Language Scales Bus Story Test

Test of Adolescent and Adult Language-Third Edition (TOAL-3)

Test of Adolescent and Adult Language-Fourth Edition (TOAL-4)

Test of Early Communication and Emerging Language (TECEL)

Test of Language Development-Primary: Third Edition (TOLD-P:3)

Test of Language Development-Primary: Fifth Edition (TOLD-P:5)

Test of Language Development-Intermediate: Third Edition (TOLD-I:3)

Test of Language Development-Intermediate: Fifth Edition (TOLD-I:5)

Test of Semantic Skills-Primary (TOSS-P)

Test of Semantic Skills-Intermediate: Normative Update (TOSS-I:NU)

Test of Nonverbal Intelligence – Fourth Edition (TONI-4)

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The Test of Narrative Language (TNL)

The Expressive Language Test (ELT)

The Expressive Language Test: Second Edition: Normative Update (ELT-2:NU)

Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test-Fourth Edition (EOWPVT-4)

Expressive Vocabulary Test (EVT)

Expressive Vocabulary Test-Third Edition (EVT-3)

The HELP Test - Elementary

Patterned Elicitation Syntax Test (PEST)

Reynell Developmental Language Scales-3

Structured Photographic Expressive Language Test-Third Edition (SPELT-3)

Test for Examining Expressive Morphology (TEEM)

The Test of Expressive Language (TEXL)

The WORD Test - Adolescent Second Edition (WORD-A2)

The WORD Test – Elementary Second Edition (WORD-E2)

Language Sample Results Examples

Real Life Picture Flashcards for Speech Therapy Practice (Instant Download)

Language - Receptive

The Language Processing Test - Revised (LPT-R)

The Language Processing Test –Third Edition: Elementary (LPT-3:E)

The Listening Comprehension Test-Adolescent (LCT-A)

The Listening Comprehension Test-Second Edition (LCT-2)

The Listening Test

Oral Passage Understanding Scale (OPUS)

Receptive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test (ROWPVT)

Receptive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test- Fourth Edition (ROWPVT-4)

Rhode Island Test of Language Structure (RITLS)

Test of Auditory Comprehension of Language-Third Edition (TACL-3)

Test of Auditory Comprehension of Language-Fourth Edition (TACL-4)

Token Test for Children

Token Test for Children: Second Edition (TTFC-2)

Language - Other

Boehm Test of Basic Concepts-Revised  (BTBC-R)

Bracken Basic Concepts Scale-Revised  (BBCS-R)

Test of Problem Solving - Adolescent (TOPS-Adolescent)

Test of Problem Solving - Elementary Revised (TOPS-Elementary-R)

Nonspeech Test for Receptive and Expressive Language

Assessing Semantic Skills through Everyday Themes (ASSET)

Comprehensive Receptive and Expressive Vocabulary Test-second edition (CREVT-2)

Comprehensive Receptive and Expressive Vocabulary Test-Third Edition (CREVT-3)

Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test (EOWPVT)

Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test-Upper Extension (EOWPVT-UE)

Montgomery Assessment of Vocabulary Acquisition (MAVA)

Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-3  (PPVT-3)

Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Fifth Edition (PPVT-5)

Spanish Assessments

With much appreciation for the knowledge and work of Nancy Sever Muniz!  Some tests include a statement in parentheses that discuss the administration of the test with the assistance of a Native Language Speaker. 

Assessment of Phonological Processes, Spanish (APP -Sp)

Austin Spanish Articulation Test (Austin)

Bilingual English Spanish Assessment (BESA)

Bilingual Syntax Measure, 1 or 2 (BSM, 1 or 2) 

Bilingual Vocabulary Assessment Measure (BVAM)

Boehm Test of Basic Concepts-Revised, Spanish (BTBC-R-SP) 

Bracken Basic Concepts Scale-Revised-Spanish  (BBCS-R-Sp) 

Clinical Assessment of Articulation and Phonology-Spanish Edition (CAAP-S)

Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-3, Spanish (CELF-3-SP)

Contextual Probes of Articulation Competence – Spanish (CPAC-S)

Del Rio Language Screening Test (DRLST) 

Dos Amigos Verbal Language Scales

Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test-Upper Extension-Revised, Spanish 

Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test-2000, Spanish

Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test-Fourth Edition: Spanish Bilingual Edition (EOWPVT-4:SB)

Language Assessment Scale (LAS)

Language Sample - Spanish

Medida Española de Articulación (MEDA)

Multicultural Vocabulary Test (MVT)

Preschool Language Assessment Instrument-Spanish  (PLAI-Sp)

Preschool Language Scale-3, Spanish (PLS-3, Sp)

Preschool Language Scale-5, Spanish (PLS-5, Sp)

Pruebas de Expresión  Oral y Percepción de La  Lenguaje Española (PEOPLE)

Prueba del Desarrollo Inicial del Lenguaje (PDIL)

Receptive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test, Revised-Spanish  (ROWPVT-R-Sp)

Receptive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test-2000, Spanish

Receptive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test-Fourth Edition: Spanish Bilingual Edition (ROWPVT-4:SB)

Screening Test of Spanish Grammar (STSG) 

Spanish Articulation Measure (SAM) 

Spanish Expressive Vocabulary Test (SEVT) 

Spanish Language Assessment Procedures: A Communication Skills Inventory  (SLAP)

Spanish Structured Photographic Expressive Language Test-Preschool (SPELT-P-Sp)

Spanish Structured Photographic Expressive Language Test-2 (S:SPELT-2)

Spanish Structured Photographic Expressive Language Test-3 (S:SPELT-3)

Spanish Test for Assessing Morphologic Production (STAMP)

Test of Early Language Development-Third Edition:Spanish (TELD-3:S)

Test de Vocabulario de Imágenes, Peabody (TVIP)

Test of Auditory Processing Skills, 3rd Edition: Spanish/Bilingual (TAPS-3:SBE)

Toronto Test of Receptive Vocabulary (TTRV)

Wiig Assessment of Basic Concepts-Spanish (WABC-S)

ENGLISH tests that may be used with SPANISH-SPEAKING children

The Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC) 

The Boehm Test of Basic Concepts-Revised  (BTBC-R-) 

The Bracken Basic Concepts Scale-Revised  (BBCS-R) 

The Childhood Autism Rating Scale ( CARS)

The Gilliam Autism Rating Scale (GARS) 

The Nonspeech Test for Receptive and Expressive Language

An Examination of the Oral Speech Mechanism

The Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-III, Form PPVT-III, Form    )

The Preschool Language Assessment Instrument  (PLAI) 

The Receptive-Expressive Emergent Language Scale-2 (REEL-2)

The Screening Test for Developmental Apraxia of Speech 

The Structured Photographic Expressive Language Test-Preschool (SPELT-P)

The Structured Photographic Expressive Language Test-II ( SPELT-II)

The Stuttering Severity Scale 

The Stuttering Prediction Instrument

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Resource library, language screenings for new and returning speech students.

A new school year means new kids. New kids mean lots of language screenings!

I’ve used some great Common Core based (i.e., using the Common Core standards for a grade level to create the screening) language screenings in the past. Since the majority of the country follows Common Core, that may work just fine. Over the years, though, I realized I needed something different.

When it comes to Language and Speaking & Listening, not all Common Core standards match kids’ developmental language skills, sooooo I decided to take matters in my own hands. I designed my own  developmentally based ,  Common Core referenced language screeners!

Wondering what “developmentally based and Common Core referenced” means? I chose targets for my language screeners based on developmental milestones for language. Then, I went through Common Core to see what standards, if any, these milestone skills could be tied to.

How did I decide on these particular skills?

Pick them out of a hat? Close my eyes and point? While those methods would have been a lot easier, I decided to go with good, old fashioned research. I pulled data from ASHA, milestone studies, and lots of language books . After sifting through tons of information, I chose the skills that seemed to overlap the most across all my sources.

The next thing I wanted was some type of Pass/Fail indicator. I needed a point of reference, so I added a cutoff score based on an 80% average to the top of each page. Some are less than 80%, but that’s due to how the numbers worked on the screeners.

Each question/task is worth one point. You can use a 1 and 0, + and -, whatever you like to do. When you’re finished, count up all your points. Enter them into the total portion at the top of the screener, and you’re finished!

You can also take a closer look at each section of the screener to better identify areas of weakness.  In the bottom left of the screener, you can circle P if the student passed that section or F if they failed it.  This helps establish goals and determine starting points.

These language screenings are available in my TpT Store . If you use them in your classroom, let me know what you think in the comments!

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Meet Maureen

Hey there! I’m Maureen Wilson, a school-base SLP who is data driven and caffeine powered. My passion is supporting other pediatric SLPs by teaching them how to harness the power of literacy and data to help their students achieve their goals…without sacrificing time they don’t have.

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Get the basics you need to administer and analyze Dynamic Assessments in a school setting.  Dynamic Assessments are great for:

• Assessing student’s language learning
• Assessing student’s with multi-lingual backgrounds
• Getting practical information to make confident decisions on eligibility and goals

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7 responses.

hello Maureen! What a great tool! Would you happen to be in the works of creating one for the high school level?

Hi Nicole, Since I just finished the K-5 I am taking a breather, but I can add those to my to-do list 😉

That would be awesome! Please keep me posted. Can’t wait to see what other helpful tips and resources you have to share 🙂

Just used these today to get baselines to update iep’s that are coming due. Love them!

Thank you so much!

This looks great & would come in so handy

Thanks so much!

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Free Downloads to make Speech Therapy Screenings Easier

• allisonfors
• August 21, 2024
• No Comments
• Back to School , Development , Screenings

Busy with informal assessments and screenings for speech therapy? Here are some free resources to make your life easier with development charts, data collection sheets, and checklists.

Speech Therapy Screening Freebies

Speech Therapy Development Cheat Sheets: Use the norm charts during evaluations, informal assessments, as functional decor, or for parent handouts! It includes speech sound milestones, phonology ages of elimination, vocabulary averages, and morphology stages. Utilize the scene to elicit a language sample and assess articulation and language skills. 

Data Collection Sheets and Editable Lesson Plans: Free speech therapy data sheets and lesson plans! Printable and editable sheets for quick and easy lesson planning and data collecting! Keep yourself organized from the start of the school year.

Articulation Screener and IPA chart: An IPA chart, vowel quadrilateral chart, articulation screener stimulus pictures, and an articulation data sheet. This serves as an informal articulation screener for SLPs and SLPAs, who may need to assess articulation quickly and informally. This is a quick reference guide for place, manner, and voice of consonant sounds. The consonant and vowel charts make it easy to see error patterns. Use the fun stimulus pictures that correspond with the data collection sheet makes it easy to assess articulation.

Language Sample Checklist: A quick and easy one-page speech therapy language screener. This extensive checklist includes syntax, morphology, narratives, and pragmatics sections for an informal assessment of skills. 

Let me know what you think of these freebies when you leave feedback! I love to hear from you!

You may also be interested in:

Tips for Taking Language Samples

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Writing about Articulation in a Report

In writing reports, it is very important for the speech and language pathologist to be consistent and accurate in writing the phonemes that the student is having difficulty with.  These should be written using professional writing with any sounds or sound combinations that a family might not understand defined. Writing about articulation in reports can be simple if you follow these strategies.

Sounds should be put in slashes /s/ not bolded or capitalized.

Refer to the blog on treatment techniques:  Rakovic: Articulation Therapy resources

How to write about an articulation standardized test

If you have done a standardized test for evaluation at the beginning or the end of treatment you must give a description of the test. It is also easier to read a table of sounds than it is to read them embedded into a paragraph.

Here are some examples of write-ups of articulation tests, note these are examples and may have more information than you need for the progress report but it will give you an idea of the organization and how to describe a test.

The below links to Pearson’s example of their report write-up for Goldman-Fristoe and the KLPA

Pearson’s Goldman Fristoe and the KLPA

This is an example that has a write-up of some early communicators. I uploaded the pdf as sometimes the links expire.

EXAMPLEPreschool Speech-Language Assessment (1)-1ey8utp

This is a great resource that has over 90 descriptions of common speech and language tests.

90 speech therapy test descriptions

How to write about the Goldman Fristoe Articulation Test

Here is another way to write the Goldman Fristoe so that you are remaining clinical but also giving the family information.

Articulation : The Goldman Fristoe Test of Articulation-2 (GFTA-2) is designed to provide a systematic means of assessing an individual’s articulation in single words. Descriptive information about the individual’s articulation skills is obtained through three subtests: Sound-in-words, Sound-in-syllables, and Stimulability. Student’s errors are listed below with error sound followed by target sound:

/n/ for /ing/(final position) Example: ‘rin’ for ‘ring’

/s/ for /sh/ (all positions) Example: ‘fising’ for ‘fishing’

/ts/ for /ch/ (final, medial) Example: ‘watses’ for ‘watches’ * inconsistent

/w/ for /r/ (all positions) Example: ‘wabbit’ for ‘rabbit’

/dz/ for /j/ (final position) Example: ‘orandz’ for ‘orange’

/f/ for /th/ voiceless (all positions) Example: ‘fum’ for ‘thumb’

/d/ for /th/ voiced (all positions) Example: ‘dis’ for ‘this’

/b/ for /v/ (initial) Example: ‘bacuum’ for ‘vacuum’

Here is another way:

During the evaluation, the following sounds were marked in error and are considered delayed based on CHILD’s age at testing:

Initial: f, g, v, ch, sp, st, sk, sw, sn, gl, fl, gr, sm, sl, th Medial: f, g, v, sh, s, j, z, er, t Final: k, g, z, th The following phonological processes were marked as present during the evaluation and are considered delayed based on CHILD’s age at testing:

Initial Consonant Deletion: Occurs when the intial consonant in a word is left off. Final Consonant Deletion: Occurs when the final consonant in a word is left off. Weak Syllable Deletion: Occurs when the weak syllable of a word is left off. Cluster Reduction—s: Occurs when an /s/ consonant cluster is reduced to a single consonant. Cluster Reduction: Occurs when a consonant cluster is reduced to a single consonant. It is recommended that CHILD receive instruction and practice to correct production of the following speech sounds and to decrease the phonological processes found in her speech:

f, g, v, ch, sp, st, sk, sw, sn, gl, fl, gr, sm, sl, th, sh, s, j, z, er, k

How to write about the Entire World of R Advanced Screening

Here is some great information about the Entire World of R Advanced Screening for those that are using that.

Entire World of R resources

This is similar but in a larger format.

http://www.scsha.com/assets/docs/Convention2014/Handouts/ristuccia%20session%202%20and%207.pdf

Here is another example of how to put it into a table so that the information might not be overwhelming.

Some great forms for articulation

Here is a presentation that has some of these listed Articulation best practices

Here is the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association in their practice protocol lists them.

American Speech Language and Hearing Association: articulation

Here is another reference that comes from another university as a template for their county’s reports.

county-wide-template-21 (2)

R articulation form for Entire World of R

Entire World of R chart of results

How to write about IPA in a word document

In writing IPA in word there is a very easy way to do this. Here is a youtube video on it.

Great tool for writing the phonetic alphabet

Click above for a great tool to write the phonetic alphabet.

There are some that are having difficulty in writing articulation results. Think about what helps you as a therapist. You want to be able to see what sounds are in error, is that sound in error in all positions, which sounds should be expected at that child’s age.  You want to know if there are any omissions. You want to know what may be impacting the student’s speech the most. Having these in a table makes it easier to read this information as opposed to having it in a paragraph.  Here is one example of an easy table. It has the sound, the way the student says it and what is the expected age for the sound.

Example of a chart for articulation write-up

This is an example provided by Courtney.  You can see that this makes it easier for the parent to understand what you are hearing. You would do this for each position that the student was not able to produce the sound.

Initial Position

How to write about the Arizona Test of Articulation 4

The Arizona Test of Articulation 4  can be scored online.  Be careful when you are scoring it as the number of sounds is different from the test item ( one item may have several sounds that they are looking for). This is listed on the test form.  WPS publishing website

I have made a chart for this. Click on the title to download a word document.  I have also copied the table here.

Arizona Table for Articulation Test-ws3dco

Total possible score:

Total error:

Word Articulation Total:

Sentence Articulation Total:

Related blogs:

• What Does Articulation Therapy Look Like In the Schools
• Articulation: Making Drill Work Fun
• The Clinicial Assessment of Articulation and Phonology
• Auditory Bombardment in Articulation Therapy

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14 thoughts on “Writing about Articulation in a Report”

The link to the Entire World of R assessment write up is broken. Does anyone know where I can find a new or alternative link?

Thanks for telling me that the link is broken. I will remove that from the blog. I wrote that blog to help my graduate students write up their reports. Feel free to use the charts that I made for them to keep the data looking clean. I hope this is helpful. I checked the link and the website it came from it looks as if all their blogs are down.

Thank you for the examples and the YouTube video about inserting IPA symbols!

Read…thanks for all the helpful guides!

Read thanks

Read, thanks 🙂

Wow this was great, thanks!

This is very helpful, thank you!

Read, thanks!

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