SRCLD Presentation Details
  Title  
       
    African American Head Start Preschoolers’ Performance on the Diagnostic Evaluation of Language Fundamentals – Norm Referenced (DELV-NR)  
Author(s)
Claire Plowgian - Marquette University
Melissa Manjarres - Marquette University
Maura Moyle - Marquette University
Sue Berman - Marquette University
Brenda Gorman - Marquette University

SRCLD Info
SRCLD Year: 2011
Presentation Type: Poster Presentation
Poster Number:
Presentation Time: (na)
Categories
- Assessment
- Dialectical Variation
Abstract
The purpose of the current study were to evaluate the utility of the DELV-NR as a less-biased assessment for preschoolers from an urban Head Start program who spoke African American English (AAE), and to examine the children’s performance on its subcomponents. Ninety-two children, mean age 4;8, completed three language measures (i.e., PPVT-3, CELF P-2, DELV-NR) and the results of their composite scores were compared. The results suggest that the DELV-NR was a less-biased language assessment than the CELF P-2 for this population of children, although the differences in scores were small. In contrast, the DELV-NR and PPVT-3 scores were similar. As a group, the children in this study scored nearly half of a standard deviation below the normative mean on the DELV-NR. When performance on the language domain subtests within the DELV-NR were compared, children performed significantly worse on the Syntax domain. The results of the current research suggest that the norms on the DELV-NR may need to be adjusted for preschool children, particularly in the Syntax domain.