For deaf children and young people, specialised assessments, are used to monitor and assess their learning and development effectively. Contact your local Teacher of the Deaf (ToD) for more information.
The following is a list of assessments typically used by the team:
| Test | Description | Possible Suitable Age |
|---|---|---|
| LING Sounds | It uses simple spoken sounds, including ah, ee, oo, sh, ss, mm. They cover the sounds ranging from 250-4000Hz and represent the sounds in the frequencies that are needed to hear spoken language. For more information please use the following link: 5.1. Sound based testing – BATOD Use the following link for resources to support daily hearing checks: Ling Sounds – Support for schools and settings | All |
| Nottingham Auditory Milestones (NAMES) | This assessment tracks how babies and young children (up to 3 years post-implant) develop listening and understanding skills, focussing on: active listening, understanding spoken language, auditory memory, and sequencing It can show progress from early listening to being able to learn by listening in group settings as is typical in early educational settings. Batod Article-Assessment | Babies and children across the first three years of implantation (and aged under 2-3 years old at the time of operation) |
| Parents’ Evaluation of Aural/Oral Performance of Children (PEACH) | The PEACH is a questionnaire designed to assess how effectively children with a hearing loss use their hearing and communicate in everyday, real life situations. It relies on the observations of the caregivers. It evaluates the effectiveness of hearing equipment. Parents’ Evaluation of Aural/Oral Performance | Listening skills | Under 5 years |
| McCormick Toy Test | It uses 7 pairs of words, so that consonant discrimination can be tested, the pairs of similar sounding words, are: tree & key; shoe & spoon; cow & house; plane & plate; horse & fork; duck & cup; man & lamb. For more information please use the following link: McCormick Toy Test | Listening skills (ndcs.org.uk) | Pre school, 2 plus years. |
| Manchester Picture Test | Manchester Picture Test Involves a pointing response to a set of 4 pictures. The pictures depict common objects, animals or actions that are easily recognisable. They each correspond to a different phonetic element of a word category. For more information please use the following link: Manchester Picture Test | Listening skills (ndcs.org.uk) | Key Stage 1 |
| Manchester Junior Word Lists | List of 10 3-phoneme words which are spoken with or without lipreading at a voice level and the child repeats the word back. Pre-recording can be used, using the Ewing foundation. For more information please use the following link: Manchester Junior Word list | Listening skills (ndcs.org.uk) | Key Stage 1 and 2 |
| AB Word Lists | List of 10 3-phoneme words that can be delivered with or without lip reading at 40dBA and 60 dBA. These can also be done with background noise. Pre-recording can be used, using the Ewing Foundation. For more information please use the following link: AB Short Word List for Parrot | Listening skills (ndcs.org.uk) | Key Stage 3 and 4 |
| Bamford-Kowal-Bench (BKB) Sentence Lists | There are interchangeable lists, containing 16 simple sentences and 50 key words. The child is asked to repeat back the sentence and scored 2% for each correct sentence. For more information please use the following link: Bamford-Kowal-Bench Sentence Test | Listening skills (ndcs.org.uk) | Key Stage 3 and beyond |
| Listening Inventory for Education UK Individual Hearing Profile (LIFE UK IHP) | This questionnaire is used to verify the quality of the classroom listening environment from the standpoint of an individual student. It can identify classroom situations which present a listening challenge for individual students, and provide a valid and reliable measurement tool that can be used in a pre-test and post-test format to document the effectiveness of interventions used to improve the classroom listening environment. Listening Inventories for Education | Listening skills | 7-14 years |
| Success from the Start | Success from the Start is a developmental resource, to support effective planning of support for pre-school children with who are deaf and/or hard of hearing. It is created with their families and carers to promote a collaborative approach. Success from the start | Early communication skills | 0-3 years |
MacArthur Bates Communicative Development Inventories (CDI) | The MacArthur Bates CDI is a range of checklist based assessments for parents to complete (can be done with a professional) that can be used to assess early language and communication skills of young children, and includes measures for three age ranges. MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories | Early communication skills | 8 Months to 38 months |
| Teddy Talk Test | A fun play-based assessment that checks children are on track with their speech and language development and if the child requires further support. For more information please go to the Teddy talk test | Early communication skills | 18 Months to 5 years |
| The British Picture Vocabulary Scale (BPVS) | The BPVS is designed to measure a child’s receptive vocabulary. It works with the administrator saying a word, and the child responding by selecting the picture (from a set of four options) that best illustrates the meaning of the word. It does not require the child to read or speak, making it suitable for non-readers. Results can help identify delays in vocabulary development, and provide a comparison of a child’s receptive vocabulary to others in their age group. British Picture Vocabulary Scale | Receptive language skills | 3-16 Years |
| Renfrew Expressive Vocabulary Test | This test assesses children’s expressive vocabulary, an indicator of language development. It uses picture cards with accompanying spoke questions to prompt responses, which are used as an overall score. This score can be used to inform an age equivalence and general expressive vocabulary development. Expressive Vocabulary Test | Assessments for deaf children and young people | 3 years to 11 years 11 months |
| Renfrew Action Picture Test | This assesses children’s expressive language. It uses 10 picture cards showing everyday situations as prompts for accompanying spoken questions. Responses to these questions are recorded and scored for both the information and grammar used by the child: These scores are used to inform an age equivalence and general expressive language development. The Renfrew Action Picture Test | Expressive language skills | 3 years to 8 years 5 months |
| Renfrew Bust Story Test | This assessment tests spoken narrative ability, using a task based on recalling a story. A wordless picture book is shown to the child and the tester tells the story while the child listens. The child then has a turn at retelling the story using the pictures as prompts, which is recorded (ideally on video). The recording is transcribed and scored. The scores provide age-equivalent scores for grammatical complexity and information load for the child’s narrative (story) recall. Bus Story Test | Expressive language skills | 3-8 years |
| The Test for Reception of Grammar (TROG-2) | The TROG-2 is a receptive language assessment, designed to measure a child’s understanding of English grammatical contrasts, such as plurals, verb tenses, pronouns and more complex sentence structures. It helps identify difficulties in understanding sentence forms. The child is presented with a spoken sentence and then needs to choose the picture (from a set of four) that accurately represents the meaning of that grammatical construction. The Test for Reception of Grammar, Second Edition (TROG-2) | 4 years and above |
| Assessment of Comprehension and Expression (ACE) | The test is structured into a main test (which consists of 5 subtests) and an extended test. It includes items with verbal comprehension and grammar, and aspects of semantic and pragmatic knowledge. The test is simple to administer and has a range of engaging picture materials. The child responds to verbal instructions and questions by pointing or speaking. Assessment of Comprehension and Expression | Language skills | 6-11 years. |
| The Pragmatics Profile | The Pragmatics Profile is a questionnaire that can be used to interview parents, carers and teachers. It gathers detailed information about an individuals pragmatic (social communication) abilities. To facilitate its use, the profile comes complete with administration instructions, a record sheet for documenting, a summary sheet for analysis, and an instruction sheet for guidance. Pragmatics Profile of Everyday Communication Skills (revised edition) | 9 months – 10 years |