title: Using norm-referenced tests to determine severity of language impairment in children: disconnect between U.S. policy makers and test developers.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to identify various U.S. state education departments' criteria for determining the severity of language impairment in children, with particular focus on the use of norm-referenced tests. A secondary objective was to determine if norm-referenced tests of child language were developed for the purpose of identifying the severity of children's language impairment.
  
  
  METHODS
  Published procedures for severity determinations were obtained from U.S. state education departments. In addition, manuals for 45 norm-referenced tests of child language were reviewed to determine if each test was designed to identify the degree of a child's language impairment. Consistency was evaluated among state criteria, test developers' intentions, and test characteristics.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At the time of this study, 8 states published guidelines for determining the severity of language impairment, and each specified the use of norm-referenced tests for this purpose. The degree of use and cutoff-point criteria for severity determination varied across states. No cutoff-point criteria aligned with the severity cutoff points described within the test manuals. Furthermore, tests that included severity information lacked empirical data on how the severity categories were derived.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Researchers and clinicians should be cautious in determining the severity of children's language impairment using norm-referenced test performance given the inconsistency in guidelines and lack of empirical data within test manuals to support this use.
authors.affiliation: University of Connecticut, Storrs, USA. tammie.spaulding@uconn.edu
authors.forename: Tammie J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Spaulding
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Swartwout Szulga
authors.forename: Cecilia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Figueroa
mesh_terms: D000288:Administrative Personnel; D002648:Child; D002663:Child Language; D004522:Educational Status; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D007806:Language Disorders / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis*; D007807:Language Tests / Q000592:standards*; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013219:State Government; D014481:United States