Hayward, Stewart, Phillips, Norris, & Lovell
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At-a-Glance Test Review: Comprehensive assessment of spoken language (CASL)
Name of Test: Comprehensive Assessment of Spoken Language (CASL)
Author(s): Elizabeth Carrow-Woolfolk
Publisher/Year (Please provide original copyright as well as dates of revisions): AGS 1999
Forms: Two, Form 1 ages 3-6 and Form 2 ages 7-21
Age Range: 3-21 years
Norming Sample:
Total Number: 2750
Number and Age: 1700 students of the 2750 chosen by random sampling to create representative sample for final analysis (p. 108).
Location: 166 sites by geographic region
Demographics: guided by sampling plan, stratified by gender, geographic region, SES, race/ethnicity based on 1994 Census
Rural/Urban: not described in this way
SES: by mother’s education
Other (Please Specify): Item analyses included: First, classical item analysis ensured that there would be “a good range of item
difficulty within each test and to examine and eliminate, if necessary, poorly discriminating items” (Carrow-Woolfolk, 1999, p. 113).
Second, Rasch item analysis was conducted with BIGSTEPS program.
Summary Prepared By (Name and Date): Eleanor Steward, 9 July 2007, additions 16 July
Purpose of Test: An in-depth evaluation of: oral language processing systems, knowledge and use of words and grammatical
structures, ability to use language for special tasks, knowledge and use of language in communicative contexts.
Theoretical Model: not given
Areas Tested: four language areas and 15 tests. Lexical/semantic and syntactic. Supralinguistic and pragmatic.
Who Can Administer: Those with background who have graduate level training in testing and assessment.
Administration Time: Testing time will depend on which Core Battery is administered and the number of supplementary tests
undertaken.
Test Administration (General and Subtests): The instructions, scoring, and correct/incorrect responses are found in both the easel
and on record forms. Examinee responses are pointing, single word, and open-ended verbal responses. The intent is to administer those
tests that constitute “Core” for a given age range.
Test Interpretation: Chapter 4, “Description of the CASL Tests”, provides detailed information about each test in terms of format,
what it assesses, background about the underlying skill including research evidence, and interpretation. Interpretation hinges on the
component and its test which, taken together, address knowledge, processes, and performance.
Standardization:
Age equivalent scores
Grade equivalent scores
Percentiles
Standard scores
Stanines
Other (Please Specify) Normal curve equivalent, test-age equivalent (age at which raw score is average; not an age equivalent, see
Hayward, Stewart, Phillips, Norris, & Lovell
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p.90). Core Composites, Category Indexes and Processing Index Standard Scores.
Reliability: Internal consistency of items: overall, the reliabilities were high. The Core reliabilities were in .90s and the Indexes ranged
from .85 to .96. Overall, SEMs ranged from low 3.6 to high 9.0.
Internal consistency of items:
Test-retest: Ranges: .65 (synonyms)-.95 for tests, .92-.93 for Core Composites, and .88-.96 for Indexes.
Inter-rater: No information.
Validity:
Content: previous research and the theoretical design she developed.
Criterion Prediction Validity: Studies compare scores from four language tests and one cognitive test. All show high correlations.
Construct Identification Validity: The author provides information on: developmental profession of scores, intercorrelations of
CASL tests, and “factor structure of the category and processing indexes” (Carrow-Woolfolk, 1999, p. 126).
Differential Item Functioning: Other (Please Specify): clinical validity with 8 different clinical groups
Summary/Conclusions/Observations: Although Carrow is aiming for an integrative test, I still feel that with the CASL that we are
breaking down into smaller parts for examination and then attempting to draw it all together in the end using composite profiling. This
may be a function of the author’s orientation to cognitive information processing models. In this sense, the CASL still feels like an old
style test to me (in contrast to Test of Narrative Language (TNL) or the Preschool Language Assessment Instrument-PLAI).
Clinical/Diagnostic Usefulness: The CASL is an extensive diagnostic test. For that reason, it is unlikely that clinicians would use it
unless there are specific diagnostic questions. This test is a bonus for those who follow children from elementary to junior high and
beyond, particularly when young adults prepare for work.
References
Carrow-Woolfolk, E. (1999). Comprehensive assessment of spoken language (CASL). Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service.
To cite this document:
Hayward, D. V., Stewart, G. E., Phillips, L. M., Norris, S. P., & Lovell, M. A. (2008). At-a-glance test review: Comprehensive
assessment of spoken language (CASL). Language, Phonological Awareness, and Reading Test Directory (pp. 1-2).
Edmonton, AB: Canadian Centre for Research on Literacy. Retrieved [insert date] from
http://www.uofaweb.ualberta.ca/elementaryed/ccrl.cfm.