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Evaluation of the PEAK-DT and PEAK-G Pre-assessments: Comparing Directly Implemented and Indirect Assessments of Verbal Abilities

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Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between the PEAK Direct Training Pre-assessment (PEAK-DT-PA) and the PEAK Generalization Pre-assessment (PEAK-G-PA) with the corresponding indirect assessments based on parent and therapist reports. Participants were administered the PEAK-DT-PA and PEAK-G-PA. Parents and therapist completed a 184-item skills checklist for each of the corresponding modules. The results of the study suggest that there was a strong correlation between the pre-assessments and the indirect reports from both the parents and the therapists for each module. Additional correlations and inter-rater reliability across factors and individual test items were also investigated. Finally, trends in inter-rater reliability between caregiver report and direct assessments suggest that caregivers reporting for participants with lower overall scores more reliably identified whether their child had a deficit with an advanced skill, but could less reliably identify whether their child had a more basic skill. The opposite trend was found for caregivers reporting on participants with greater overall scores. Implications of these findings for clinicians and future research are discussed.

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No external funding was utilized for completion of this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rehabilitation Institute, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL, 62901, USA

    Becky F. Barron & Mark R. Dixon

  2. Missouri State University, Springfield, MO, 65897, USA

    Dana Paliliunas

Authors
  1. Becky F. Barron
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  2. Dana Paliliunas
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  3. Mark R. Dixon
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Correspondence to Mark R. Dixon.

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Disclosure Last author receives small royalties from sales of the PEAK curriculum.

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Barron, B.F., Paliliunas, D. & Dixon, M.R. Evaluation of the PEAK-DT and PEAK-G Pre-assessments: Comparing Directly Implemented and Indirect Assessments of Verbal Abilities. J Behav Educ 30, 604–623 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10864-019-09362-5

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