Improving the Sensitivity of the Language Sector of the Denver Developmental Screening Test

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Abstract
The DDST and a brief measure of expressive language development were given to 114 children between 24 and 74 months of age. As in a previous study, the DDST failed to identify the majority of children who failed the expressive language screening. Changing total DDST scoring and using more rigorous cutoff scores—the ages at which 50% and 75% of the sample population passed language items—failed to substantially improve the predictive accuracy of the DDST. Adding a very limited number of expressive language items identified most of the children with language difficulties. Use of such a measure together with the DDST is advocated. Recommendations for further research include cross-validation of these findings, revision of the DDST language sector, and subsequent assessment of the test's sensitivity to a variety of mild handicapping conditions.