BDI2 Spanish UsersGuide - Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

User’s GuideJean Newborg

BDI2_Spanish_UsersGuide.qxp 3/7/05 3:08 PM Page 1

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Copyright © 2005 by The Riverside Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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Reference Citations

■ To cite the BDI-2 Spanish User’s Guide, use:

Newborg, J. (2005). Battelle Developmental Inventory, 2nd Edition, Spanish, User’s Guide. Itasca, IL: RiversidePublishing.

These materials contain information that is to be used solely for testing purposes. No test item information maybe disclosed or used for any other reason. Accepting delivery of or using these materials constitutes anacknowledgment of responsibility for maintaining test security that is required by professional standards andapplicable federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and policies governing proper use of tests. The recipient alsoacknowledges responsibility for complying with copyright law, which prohibits unauthorized reproduction and useof copyrighted test materials.

BDI-2 ScoringPro is a trademark of Houghton Mifflin Company.

All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

For technical information, please call 800.323.9540, visit our website at www.riverpub.com/products/clinical/bdi2/,or e-mail us at [email protected]


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Overview This user’s guide provides an introduction to theBattelle Developmental Inventory, 2nd Edition,Spanish (BDI-2 Spanish) test materials. Keypoints include the reason for the instrument’sdevelopment, a description of how the materialsdiffer from their English counterparts, andpractical suggestions for the instrument’s use inassessing young children (and/or their parents orcaregivers) whose dominant language is Spanish.This guide is not intended to replace the BDI-2Examiner’s Manual (Newborg, 2005). A thoroughunderstanding of the information in the Examiner’sManual is a prerequisite for learning how toeffectively incorporate the Spanish materials intothe assessment process. The reader is stronglyencouraged to review both “Cautions for TestingIndividuals with Unique Backgrounds” in Chapter 1of the BDI-2 Examiner’s Manual (pp. 11–13) andStandards for Educational and PsychologicalTesting (American Educational Research Association[AERA], American Psychological Association[APA], & National Council on Measurement inEducation [NCME], 1999) for a more thoroughdiscussion of assessment-related cautions.

IntroductionThe 2000 U.S. Census indicated significant changesin the demographic pattern of the United States.Among the early-childhood age groups included inthe BDI-2 research, the Hispanic/Latino groupwas the largest U.S. minority group represented(18.9%). This census was the first in whichHispanic/Latino groups were identified as thenation’s largest minority group, reflecting a trendthat is predicted to increase significantly until atleast 2050 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2001). TheHispanic/Latino group, with a median age of 26.4,is considerably younger than the total U.S.population, whose median age is 35.4. Additionally,

for all age groups younger than 35, the number ofboth males and females exceeded the correspondingproportions of the total population. Hispanic/Latino children (those younger than 18) comprisedmore than one-third of the population of theirethnic group compared with young people ingeneral, who comprised only one-fourth of thetotal population. The use of English as theexclusive language spoken at home among theHispanic/Latino groups was reported at only 21%,and among these groups, English was reported tobe spoken “very well.” More than 40% of theHispanic/Latino group said they spoke Englishless than “very well.” Spanish was identified 99%of the time as the primary language spoken in thehome. People of Mexican origin were the largestHispanic/Latino group in the United States,representing 59% of the country’s total Hispanic/Latino population. Puerto Ricans and Cubanswere the next two distinct groups, representing9.7% and 3.5% of the Hispanic/Latino population,respectively (Ramirez, 2004). Given the largenumber of parents and young children whoseprimary language is Spanish, it is clear that high-quality materials designed to measure the children’sdevelopmental strengths and learning opportunitiesare necessary.

Design of the BDI-2 Spanish Test MaterialsThe BDI-2 Spanish test materials offer a practicalapproach for the development of assessmentmaterials across languages. The instrument wasdesigned to retain as much of the structure and feelof the English BDI-2 test materials as possibleand is offered at a low cost to early childhoodprofessionals and school districts. Because most ofthe developmental milestones assessed by theBDI-2 are neither language nor culture specific, itwas possible to develop an instrument thatlargely paralleled the English version.

BDI-2 Spanish User’s Guide


2 BDI-2 Spanish User’s Guide

The BDI-2 Spanish is not a complete translationof every BDI-2 English component; only selectBDI-2 materials were translated into Spanish. Allinstructions and questions that are spokendirectly to the child or to the parent or caregiverby the examiner have been translated intoSpanish. The translated Spanish text has beeninserted within the context of the Englishmaterials, thus enabling the bilingual examinerto easily identify when Spanish is to be spoken. Inaddition, any visual stimuli with accompanyingprinted text that the child must use to respond toan item have been translated and are included onthe CD-ROM as special printed components. Toaid the examiner, both the Screening Record Formand the longer Record Form were translated intoSpanish, and master sheets for two pages in theStudent Workbook are included for easierrecording of responses and scoring. The provisionof Spanish-language materials also extends to theBDI-2 ScoringPro™ Software and Palm Powered™

administration software. Items and specialadministration options are included on all versionsof the software. These features will be useful inestablishing a robust set of national norms for theSpanish materials and will allow local schools toestablish their own normative information orscreening-test cut scores.

Also included in the software are reports for theScreening Test and the full BDI-2 that can begenerated in Spanish.These reports are designed forparents or caregivers and are identical in structureto the English-language versions.

Developing test materials for different languagesis challenging. The first issue that arises is thetranslation or adaptation of the materials. In theBDI-2 Spanish, the vast majority (96%) of theBDI-2 items and materials are translations of theEnglish items into their Spanish counterparts. Theremaining items consist of translated materials thatwere adapted to measure the same developmentalmilestones contained in the English-languagematerials. Only 20 of the 450 BDI-2 items requiredany significant modification. Of these 20 items, 16Communication Domain items (7 from the Receptivesubdomain and 9 from the Expressive subdomain),2 Motor Domain items, and 2 Cognitive Domainitems underwent modification. Also, 3 of the 20items are part of the BDI-2 Screening Test, and 18are located in areas of the test that typically beginwith children age 5 or older.

The modifications for the adaptation can be classifiedinto three basic types. The first type involvedpresenting new materials in Spanish for the child

to use to respond to the task presented. An exampleof this type of item would be copying a word on apiece of paper (which constitutes one of thePerceptual Motor skills). To measure this milestonefairly, the word, or a substitute word of similardifficulty, is presented in Spanish. This type ofadaptation is best described as a simple substitutionof words.

The second type of adaptation involved translationof English items that did not have comparablelinguistic equivalents in Spanish; specifically, therecognition and correct use of irregular plural forms(e.g., mouse/mice; goose/geese), the irregular pasttense of verbs (e.g., swim/swam), or plural nounsthat end with an /ez/ sound (e.g., box/boxes). Suchconcepts are not part of Spanish grammar orlanguage structure. The Spanish items areadministered primarily as a placeholder to allowfor equal numbers of items to be administeredacross the English and Spanish test materials.Although the milestone that is measured is veryimportant in the English version, it appears as arelatively simple item in the Spanish version.Given the fact that the students will ultimatelyneed to learn irregular components of Englishgrammar, it was decided to retain these items inthe Spanish materials so that examiners can easilyverify when a child has mastered the Englishmilestone. In many cases, the only significant changeto an item is a note to the examiner thatacknowledges the structural differences betweenthe two languages.

The third type of adaptation involved the skillsassociated with rhyming, comparison/identificationof beginning or ending sounds of words, and cleararticulation of familiar words. The challenge wasto assess the same milestones in Spanish that werebeing measured in English. The immediate taskwas to identify age-appropriate words in Spanishthat measured a wide range of key phonemicsounds important for the child to master in Spanish.Next, a subgroup of the words that could also bepresented easily as pictures was developed.Finally, the words were reviewed to ensure thatthey were essentially universal across variationsof the Spanish language before the final itemscould be created. These adaptations resulted fromthe need to integrate cross-cultural, auditory,pictorial, and language-difficulty concerns, alongwith concerns from the child-development fieldregarding the presentation of the modifiedSpanish items.

All of the BDI-2 Spanish materials are designedto be used in the same manner as the English


BDI-2 Spanish User’s Guide 3

Table 1Major Modifications of the BDI-2 Spanish Materials

Additional English Text New StudentItem or Special Notes New Stimulus New Presentation Workbook BlacklineNumbera Added to the Item Book Page Created Cards Created Master Created

RC 28 ■

RC 29 ■

RC 34 ■

RC 35 ■

RC 36 ■

RC 37 ■

RC 39 ■

EC 12 ■

EC 19 ■

EC 27 ■

EC 29 / ST 54 ■

EC 34/ ST 58 ■ ■

EC 36 ■ ■

EC 37

EC 40

EC 44 ■

PM 16 ■ ■

PM 18 ■ ■

RA 20 ■ ■ ■

PC 28/ ST 97 ■ ■ ■

aAbbreviations are as follows: RC=Receptive Communication; EC=Expressive Communication; ST=Screening Test; PM=Perceptual Motor; RA=Reasoning and Academic Skills; PC=Perception and Concepts.

materials. In some instances, the assessment maybe conducted by a team consisting of an English-speaking examiner and a Spanish-speakingexaminer. Examiners will need the followingcomponents from the English BDI-2 test materials:

■ Complete Manipulatives Kit

■ Set of Presentation Cards

■ Puzzle/Strip Sheet components

■ Student Workbook

■ Examiner’s Manual

■ Materials from the BDI-2 Screening Test kit,including:

■ Screening Test Worksheet blacklinemaster

■ Screening Test Presentation Cards

■ Screening Test Stimulus Book

Table 1 presents the major modifications of theBDI-2 Spanish materials. It is recommended thatexaminers pay particularly close attention to thesemodifications during administration.

Printing and BindingThe BDI-2 Spanish materials are provided in anelectronic (CD-ROM) format.The CD-ROM containsall the files needed to create a full set of theSpanish materials. You will need to print andassemble these materials before you begin anyassessments. One reason the CD-ROM format wasused was to minimize expense for the customerand to use the benefits of modern technology inthe delivery of quality assessment tools. Anotheradvantageous reason for using electronic files isthat if an Item Test Book is lost or a page becomesdamaged, the lost or damaged piece can bereplaced without having to purchase a completelynew set of materials.



If you have not already done so, you are stronglyencouraged to print and review the “Read Me” file(BDI2_Readme_File.pdf) provided with your CD-ROM. This file consists of a brief letteridentifying the content of the other files on thedisk. It also includes suggestions for appropriateprinter and paper combinations for printing eachof the files. The instructions can help to createhigh-quality but inexpensive materials that aresimilar in look and feel to the English materials. Allthe printing can be generated from a color desktopprinter using standard-bond paper. A high-speed,two-sided laser printer is recommended for printingthe six Item Test Book files from the CD-ROM.Another widely available option is to take the CD-ROM to a local copying service and have thematerials printed and bound professionally.

Major Steps of the Translation ProcessThe translation process for the BDI-2 underwentthree distinct stages, using three groups of mostlyindependent translators from numerous Spanish-speaking countries. At each stage, the goal was toproduce a “consensus” translation that would besuitable for the broad group of Spanish-speakingcultures within the population of the United States.

The initial translation stage began by using theitems from the BDI-2 English Tryout Edition toprovide a foundation for the instrument. The goalwas to establish a core set of Spanish text thatwas based on the Tryout items and to identifyitems that would be challenging either because ofthe differences between English and Spanishgrammar or idioms or because of cultural biases.This first effort was intended to be only a startingpoint, as numerous items would later be added ormodified for the Standardization items.

During the standardization of the English BDI-2,the revised items were reviewed and translatedas needed by a different team of native Spanishspeakers. In this second stage, the process againmoved toward achieving a consensus translation,using the Standardization items as a new referencepoint. Aware that no major changes would be madeto the English items after the standardizationwas completed, the team knew it would have awell-polished set of administration instructionsthat would require only a final review before theSpanish version of the BDI-2 could be published.

After the final set of items for the published Englishmaterials had been determined, translation forthe text that would be used for the Record Formsand the BDI-2 ScoringPro Software was begun.This third stage of the work focused on identification

of any remaining items that would require adaptationto the English items and translation of the finaltext of the BDI-2 developmental milestones. Thisfinal text was needed for inclusion in the scoringsoftware that would be sent to customers beforethe Spanish printed materials would be available.Shortly after the publication of the English BDI-2,production of the final Spanish materials began.The production process included implementationof minor changes from the English materials and afinal review of the translation for universality of thetext and faithfulness to the context and content ofthe items. The materials included on the CD-ROMare the culmination of this developmental process.

Key Points Related to AdministrationAdministration of the BDI-2 in Spanish is nearlyidentical to administration of the English version.It is anticipated that the model most frequently usedfor administration will involve a bilingual examinerexperienced in assessment in both languages.Another model may use a team approach, in whichthe Spanish assessment is conducted by a nativeSpanish speaker in cooperation with, or under thesupervision of, an English-speaking examiner.Either option is acceptable for administration, butthe latter requires close, ongoing communicationbetween the two examiners to ensure consistencyof assessment procedures.

It is important to remember that administrationof the BDI-2 Spanish materials can follow variouspaths, depending on the English proficiency of theparent(s) and the child.The simplest administrationmodel is one in which the full assessment is completedentirely in Spanish with both the parent(s) orcaregiver(s) and the child.This model is comparableto the standard administration, in which theEnglish materials are administered to a child andparent(s) or caregiver(s) who speak only Englishin the home.

Another possible model is one in which the child’sEnglish-language skills are relatively strong as aresult of exposure to English-language radio andtelevision, positive English-language educationalopportunities, and interaction with older siblingswho primarily use English for communication. Inthis model, the child may complete all thestructured items of the BDI-2 in English and theparent(s) or caregiver(s) may be interviewed inSpanish (if that is more comfortable for them). Usingthis model, followed by the readministration inSpanish of any structured items the child missedin English, offers an opportunity to determine thechild’s maximum developmental level across both


Administration and Scoring 5

languages and the extent to which a bilingualenvironment has either impeded or supported thechild’s communication and cognitive skills.

Yet another possible scenario is one in which theparents are English speaking, but the child is not.This pattern often occurs in international adoptionor foster care situations. It is important to rememberthat the goal of any evaluation using the BDI-2 in anycombination of English and Spanish is to obtain acomprehensive picture of the child’s developmentalstrengths and opportunities for learning.

ScoringThe procedures for scoring individual items of theBDI-2 Spanish version are identical to those of theEnglish BDI-2. For each item, the examiner scoresthe child’s performance as a 2- , 1- , or 0-pointresponse and indicates which procedure(Structured, Observation, or Interview) was usedto gather the item-level information. After theassessment is completed, raw scores for eachsubdomain may be calculated manually or withthe aid of the BDI-2 ScoringPro Software.Individuals who use the Palm-based ScoringAssistant software will find the various optionsfor administration in English or Spanish for theStructured, Observation, and Interview items agreat timesaver and organizer for all the materialsand for scoring. The Palm-based software uses anelectronic record form, which allows informationto be transferred directly to the ScoringProsoftware to complete the scoring and report-generation activities.

Numerous scores and scoring options are providedfor the BDI-2 Spanish materials. The first level ofscoring information provided is age equivalents.Age equivalents are based on data gathered fromthe English standardization sample of 2,500children from across the United States. Age-equivalent scores are the simplest scores tocalculate using the tables in Appendix A of theBDI-2 Examiner’s Manual (Newborg, 2005).Currently, no data are available on the ageequivalents for Spanish-speaking children, butthere is no reason to believe that there would beany significant differences between scores forHispanic/Latino and non-Hispanic/Latino children.The only area of possible concern may be theCommunication subdomains for children 5 yearsand older, in which several of the items weremodified to align the behavioral milestone withappropriate content for the two languages. Of the20 items presented in Table 1, 18 are Structured-only items that require a spoken response from the

child for the most accurate score. At this time,there is no reason to believe that there would beany differences in scores between English andSpanish for items administered using theObservation/Interview administration procedures.

Examiners who have administered the Spanishversion of the BDI-2 and who wish to calculateScaled Scores and Standard Scores using theEnglish BDI-2 Standardization norms are cautionedto do so only experimentally. Until examinersestablish local norms for their district or state, orthe publisher releases Spanish norms, an elementof uncertainty will surround the accuracy of thescores. As mentioned previously, the area thatpotentially may be most affected by the inherentdifferences between the two languages is theCommunication Domain. Anyone using theEnglish norms with the Spanish BDI-2 test data isadvised to consider the results to be experimental.Individuals and organizations interested in helpingto develop normative data related to the Spanishversion of the BDI-2 are asked to contact RiversidePublishing via e-mail at [email protected] call 800.323.9540.

Test-Retest ProcedureThe test-retest procedure holds great promise foranchoring the Spanish BDI-2 materials to theEnglish normative data.This procedure is similar tothe assessment procedure used for the BilingualVerbal Ability Tests (BVAT) (Muñoz-Sandoval,Cummins, Alvarado, & Ruef, 1998). For the BDI-2,assuming that the child and the parent(s) orcaregiver(s) speak very little English, the StructuredBDI-2 items are first administered to the child inEnglish, and a basal and ceiling are established foreach subdomain. All the Observation/Interviewitems are administered to the parent(s) orcaregiver(s) in Spanish, and there is no retestingon the interview items. Upon completion of theEnglish administration, any Structured itemhaving a score of 1 or 0 is readministered inSpanish and the new score is recorded.

The evaluation continues in Spanish until the childachieves the ceiling level for each subdomain. Thebenefit of this procedure is that it allows the fullabilities of the child to be demonstrated. Thedifference between the English and Spanish rawscore totals for each subdomain can provide amore accurate picture of the role that languageplays in the child’s development and how muchmore help the child needs to achieve a high levelof English proficiency.



SummaryThe BDI-2 Spanish test materials provide asignificant opportunity to assess the developmentalstrengths and learning opportunities for theyoungest members of the Hispanic/Latinogroup—the largest and fastest-growing minoritygroup in the United States. The full potential ofthese materials will be realized when local and/ornational norms are established, and thepossibilities and rewards will be great.


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References

American Educational Research Association (AERA), American Psychological Association (APA), &National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME). (1999). Standards for educational andpsychological testing. Washington, DC: AERA.

Muñoz-Sandoval, A. F., Cummins, J., Alvarado, C. G., & Ruef, M. L. (1998). Bilingual Verbal AbilityTests. Itasca, IL: Riverside Publishing.

Newborg, J. (2005). Battelle Developmental Inventory, 2nd Edition, Examiner’s Manual. Itasca, IL:Riverside Publishing.

Ramirez, R. (2004, December). We the people: Hispanics in the United States, Census 2000 specialreports. Retrieved January 30, 2005, fromhttp://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs.html

U.S. Census Bureau. (2001). Census 2000 Summary File 1, United States. Washington, DC: U.S.Census Bureau.


800.323.9540www.riversidepublishing.com

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BDI2 Spanish UsersGuide - Houghton Mifflin Harcourt