Question
How often is a clinician allowed to administer the PLS-5 to a child?
Answer
At Pearson, there are several criteria we use when determining if it is appropriate to re-administer an assessment. Enough time has had to elapse between test administrations so that the child doesn't remember his or her answers to the questions from the first assessment. If the child is now in the next norm group for the test you can reassess. For example, if the child was previously in a two-and-a-half year old norm group but now is in a two-and-a-half to 3 year old norm group, you could re-administer the test then. Another occasion for re-administering the PLS-5 would be if the child has made significant progress in therapy.
Also keep in mind that your district may set particular parameters about reassessing students. However, there are no guidelines in the PLS-5 manual that specify a specific amount of time that needs to elapse before you can reassess. You don't want to re-administer the test so frequently that the child remembers the responses because his or her performance typically is better the second time.
Nancy Castilleja is Senior Product Manager for Speech and Language products at Pearson Assessment. Prior to this role, Nancy developed many assessments with The Psychological Corporation and Harcourt Assessment, including PLS English and Spanish editions, Boehm-3, and CELF-4 Spanish. Nancy has 8 years of clinical experience working with infants, school-age children, adolescents, and adults in school and community settings.
