Outcomes of Children
PLS-4
We use the Preschool Language Scale (PLS) to assess children's understanding and use of English. The test is administered to monitor the development of ‘auditory comprehension'; and ‘expressive communication’ from birth through 6 years 11 months of age.
The PLS is a standardised test. This means that when it was developed, many children (1564 children in fact) were tested to work out specific information about language development of children at different ages in the general population. In the Outcomes study, we relate the score of each child to the normative population to generate a “standard score”. Therefore, the test has to be administered in the “standard” way. This means, for example, using the phrasing specified in the test for eliciting responses, allowing only two repetitions of an item, and requiring children to make seven consecutive errors before the test can be stopped. It also means that the PLS can only be administered by a speech pathologist or a person with specialised experience and training in assessing children’s language.
We realise that some children do not perform their best when doing standardised assessments such as the PLS. Sometimes it might be frustrating to watch your child being tested because you know that they can do the task – but they just won’t do it on the day or the way the examiner is asking them to. This is partly because completing the assessment is a strange situation for most children. Don't worry – all children are being assessed in the same “standard“ way and the statistics of the test have accounted for this. The PLS scores give teachers information about your child's language development that is useful for planning the program for your child.