An independent psychometric evaluation of a speech and language tool for two-year-old children from a Sure Start trailblazer site in the West Midlands

Abstract

Speech and language difficulties can be indicative of other cognitive, social and developmental problems. Tools used in the UK have not (1) targeted two-year-old children, (2) included both parents' reports and independent observations, and (3) simultaneously evaluated expression, understanding and speech. This cross-sectional study of two separate cohorts included 244 children. Good internal consistency reliability for total scale and for understanding and expression sub-scales was found but not for the Speech sub-scale. External reliability from 101 participants was high. The standardized tool includes parental report and direct observation, and it assesses expression, understanding and speech, simultaneously. Internal reliability results suggest that the fewer the number of items included in a sub-scale, the lower the internal consistency. A significant gender main effect on pre-school speech and language scores was identified supporting previous findings that girls perform better than boys.