Curriculum-Based Social Language Assessments

This little project has been in the works for quite a while. As one of the top selling resources on TeachersPayTeachers, I love hearing how my Language version of Curriculum-Based Measures (both elementary and upper grades) has helped SLPs make gathering data easy.

I knew I wanted the same thing for the area of social language but I wasn’t sure how to go about creating it. After all, social language is SO difficult to test. First, there is the issue of aligning the assessment to the standards, which are a little vague when it comes to social skills. Second, students often know how to “answer” questions but not apply the concepts in real life. This is why our job (and the teacher’s) of gathering information is so important.  However, it’s also great to have some hard data when it comes to social language so I set out to create assessments that would give me a snapshot of strengths and weaknesses in this area.

I’m pretty excited about it but first let me tell you what it is and also what it isn’t.

What it is: 

This packet includes the Social Language Version of my Curriculum-Based Assessments for grades K-5. The term “curriculum-based assessment” (CBA) simply means measurement that uses “direct observation and recording of a student’s performance in the local curriculum as a basis for gathering information to make instructional decisions” (Deno, 1987, p. 41).

Each assessment provides a picture of what the child’s strengths and weaknesses based on what they are expected to do in their grade level. I used the Common Core Standards as a guide for what students are expected to do in each grade level as it relates to social interaction. (for more information, see www.corestandards.org).

The main CCSS you will see addressed in this packet include the following:

• (Grades K-5) Speaking and Listening 1: Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about kindergarten topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
  • Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., listeningto others and taking turns speaking about the topics and texts under discussion).
  • Continue a conversation through multiple exchanges

• (Grades K-3) Speaking and Listening 3: Ask and answer questions about what a speaker says in order to gather additional information or clarify something that is not understood.
• (Grades 3-5) Speaking and Listening 6: Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, using formal English when appropriate to task and situation.
• (Grades 3-5) Language 5a: Distinguish the literal and nonliteral meanings of words and phrases in context (e.g., take steps).

They provide a picture of how my students are performing on each standard and what areas to target. On each assessment, the questions are labeled by which standard they address.

For grades K-2, each assessment gathers data on the following areas using real-life stock images:

• eye contact
• turn-taking
• active listening
• WH questions
• asking/answering questions
• maintaining conversation
• initiating conversation

For grades 3-5, the following areas are assessed, again using real-life stock images:

• eye contact
• turn-taking
• active listening
• asking/answering questions
• literal vs. nonliteral
• initiating and maintaining conversations
• speech adaption to various conversation partners

Something I tried hard to do was to accurately represent the student. You’ll find that the kindergarten pictures look like kindergartners where as the fifth grade students look like fifth grade students. Questions also increase with difficulty as the grade increases.

Below are the picture handouts for the kindergarten assessment:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What it isn’t: 

These assessments are not norm-referenced. Nor do they provide any sort of cut-off scores or values. Because social language is so complex, these tests rely heavily on your clinical judgment as a trained therapist. 

At the bottom of each test contains a box to indicate if further testing is needed.

I hope you find them as beneficial as I do!  You can find them HERE. From now until Sunday they will be on sale at their lowest price for $10! (Regular price is $15)