At-A-Glance Test Review: Test of Preschool Early Literacy (TOPEL)

Hayward, Stewart, Phillips, Norris, & Lovell 1

At-a-Glance Test Review: Test of Preschool Early Literacy (TOPEL)

Name of Test: Test of Early Literacy (TOPEL)
Author(s): Lonigan, C., Wagner, R., Torgesen, J., & Rashotte, C.
Publisher/Year (Please provide original copyearight as well as dates of revisions): not published yet
Forms: No Alternate Forms
Age Range: 3 - 5 years
Norming Sample:
Total Number: 842
Number and Age: 212 (3 year olds); 313 (4 year olds); 317 (5 year olds)
Location: 2 states – 4 major US geographical areas to represent U.S. whole (TOPEL closely approximates the U.S. population). The manual provides details.
Demographics: not stated
Rural/Urban: not stated
SES: not stated
Other (Please Specify):
Summary Prepared By (Name and Date): Denyse Hayward (15 January 2007)
Purpose of Test: Three purposes are identified: 1. identify children who are likely to have problems learning to read and write; 2. document progress in early literacy related skills as a result for intervention; and 3. measure early literacy skills in research studies.
Theoretical Model: The key skills that are measured are precursors to learning to read and write; oral language, phonological awareness & print knowledge are cornerstones to learning to read & write. Early identification and intervention would prevent many reading problems. The National Reading Report identifies three basic problems: lack of understanding of alphabetic principle; lack of verbal knowledge for comprehension of written text; and motivation to read.
Areas Tested: Oral Language (Vocabulary); Print Knowledge (Environmental Print, Alphabet); Phonological Awareness (Blending, Elision,); Writing – claimed but not tested.
Who Can Administer: Early school educators, special educators, psychologists, and other diagnosticians may administer this test.
Administration Time: The administration time is 30 minutes (total test) for 96 total items.
Test Administration : The authors recommend five trial administrations before using this test. It contains picture book style items that child must respond to. Three subtests: Print Knowledge (36 items); Definitional Vocabulary (35 items); Phonological Awareness (27 items) are included.
Test Interpretation: Kids who score above average (> 110) are not likely to have problems learning to read and write. Kids who score in the average range (90 – 110) perform like most kids their age. Kids who score below average (< 90) are below developmental the trajectory that predicts success in learning to read and write.
Standardization:
Age equivalent scores Grade equivalent scores Percentiles Standard scores Stanines Other (Early Literacy Index –Composite of Three Subtests)
Reliability:
Internal consistency of items: The entire sample the 3 age groups (3-, 4-, and 5 year olds) was used. Coefficient alphas all round were reported to be .90 or above (range .86 to .96) for subtests and composite scores.
Test-retest: 45 kids from North Dakota were tested twice within a two week time period.
Inter-rater: Reliability was reported above .90 (range .96 - .98) for all subtest and composite scores.
Other:
Validity:
Content: Research indicated that the 3 areas assessed in TOPEL (Print Knowledge, Definitional Vocabulary, and Phonological Awareness) provided unique aspects of early literacy important to predicting later reading skills.
Criterion Prediction Validity: The authors examined the correlations between TOPEL means and standard deviations with TERA. All but one correlation was large or very large.
Construct Identification Validity: Age differentiation, gender and ethnicity, and language skills were examined.
Differential Item Functioning: TOPEL mean scores were within average range for all groups, but Hispanic-American Bilingual homes performed below average.
Other
Summary/Conclusions/Observations:
Clinical/Diagnostic Usefulness: The usefulness of TOPEL is questionable because tasks are too complex. This test does not measure what it claims to measure.

References

Lonigan, C., Wagner, R., Torgeson, J., & Rashotte, C. (2007). Test of preschool early literacy. Greenville, SC: Super Duper Publications.

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: Test of preschool early literacy (TOPEL). 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.