1. SLOSSON INTELLIGENCE TEST-SIT-R EVALUATED BY JEAN-MARIE READER LAI 802

2. NATURE & PURPOSE OF THE ASSESSMENT  The SIT-R is designed to be an individual test for the use in screening or estimating the cognitive ability of an individual, public school student, mental patient, or mentally handicapped person. The SIT-R is used primarily for assessment of verbal skills and ability.  Appeal of the SIT-R is the test’s easy administrative and scoring procedures, brevity, low cost, and availability to a broad range of professionals without specific training in intelligence testing.  SIT-R measures the following cognitive areas:  Vocabulary (33 items)  General Information (29 items)  Similarities and Differences (30 items)  Comprehension (33 items)  Quantitative (34 items)  Auditory Memory (28 items)  Measures IQ range 10-164

3. HOW WAS THE ASSESSMENT DEVELOPED?  The Slosson Intelligence Test (SIT) was developed in 1963 and was intended to be utilized as a brief screening instrument, assessing mental ability in children and adults.  In its original edition, the SIT questions were comprised based on their psychometric correspondence vis-a-vis the overall composite score similar to ones used in previously published IQ tests.  Ahammil (1969) reported that the SIT could be administered successfully by teachers with no prior course work in testing procedures. Because of its relatively brief time for administration and reported concurrent validity with other IQ tests, the SIT has had the reputation of being the busy practitioner’s workhorse.  The revised version (SIT-R) is reported to have no new test items, as the items are either taken from or are similar to the 1960 Stanford Binet.

4. WHAT ARE THE PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES OF THE ASSESSMENT?  Normative sample: Children and adolescents aged 4-18 years old—51% female, 49% male  Normed in 1990—The 1998 technical manual involved a recalibration of the 1990 norms to reflect recent research and correct for discrepancies between the WISC-III and SIT-R.  2,400 individuals were selected, with 1,854 selected to match, as close as possible, the United States’ population demographics in 1990.  Geographically, the sample was comprised of participants from the Northeast (20%), North Central (22%), South (38%, and West (20%).  Racially, the sample was comprised of Black (14%), White (83%), and Other (3%)— Native, Asian, Hispanic, Pacific Island—the noted disproportion of these individuals was reportedly due to the testing protocol requiring the subject to speak English.  The sample was also randomized to include various sizes of residential populations and parental occupations & educational levels.  Reliability: Internal consistency was calculated using the Kuder-Richardson Formula 20 (KR-20). Reliability coefficients determined by age level ranged from.88 to.97, with a median.945—this indicates a high level of internal consistency.  Validity: Concurrent criterion-related validity has been reported through correlations between SIT-R Total Standard Score (TSS) and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children–Revised (WISC-R). In four samples of children aged six to sixteen (total n=234), the SIT-R TSS correlated.612-.920 (median -.794). The SIT-R was found to correlate.92 with the Stanford-Binet. As noted by Johnsen, a correlation coefficient.70 and above indicates a strong correlation.

5. WHY MIGHT YOU USE THIS ASSESSMENT WITH A STUDENT?  The SIT-R is a quick and reliable individual screening test of Crystallized Verbal Intelligence. Crystallized intelligence is one’s lifetime or intellectual achievement, as demonstrated largely through one's vocabulary and general knowledge. The Verbal Intelligence domain is shown to have the highest positive correlation with overall mental ability. The SIT-R facilitates screening and provides tentative diagnosis or confirmation of other test results to insure proper placement and remediation.  The SIT-R would be used to obtain a quick, reliable indication of cognitive ability. It could be used to obtain a general indication of intelligence as part of an identification process for either end of the intelligence spectrum, including the identification of gifted and talented learners.

6. HOW IS THE ASSESSMENT DELIVERED TO STUDENTS?  The SIT-R is administered verbally and can be used by psychologists, guidance counselors, special educators, learning disabilities instructors, remedial reading teachers, and other responsible persons who, in their professional work, often need to evaluate an individual’s mental ability.  The SIT-R consists of 187 items that are read aloud to the examinee.  The SIT-R is individually administered.  Untimed—typically takes 10-20 minutes to complete

7. WHAT ARE THE LOGISITICS OF ASSESSMENT ACQUISITIONS & ADMINISTRATION?  Administered to ages 4-65 years  Takes 10-20 to administer—test is administered individually  Professionally administered—examiners need a level B qualification (graduate degree in psychology, education or a related field, and a course in testing and measurement)  The manual for the SIT-R is user-friendly, though not very comprehensive. Instructions are easy to follow and straight forward.  The test is administered orally and has been scripted—words to be repeated by the administrator are highlighted in blue.  The SIT-R uses a small number of verbal item types and a dichotomous item scoring system (two response choices) making the testing process intuitive to use.  A concise summary of administration and scoring procedures is located on the inside of the manual’s front cover.

8. HOW ARE THE ASSESSMENT RESULTS USED?  A basal score is defined as the highest level at which the examinee obtains ten consecutive correct items. The ceiling item is the last correct item before the examinee misses ten consecutive items.  The total raw score is a simple sum of scores and is the total number of correct items above the basal added to the basal item.  The results of the SIT-R are used for providing a piece of quantitative measurement data when developing a comprehensive picture of a student’s intellectual ability and potential.  When used as a tool for the gifted identification process, there is no firm cut-off score assigned to the SIT-R results—rather the generated scores are considered in conjunction with other quantitative and qualitative data.

9. WHAT ARE THE CLINICAL RECOMMENDATIONS & CAUTIONS FOR USE?  Because this test is heavily loaded with verbal content, it should not be used with speakers of other languages and should be used with caution with students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. (Johnsen)—Tests with high verbal content, like the SIT-R, should not be used to identify culturally and linguistically diverse students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds as gifted; For this purpose, tests should be nonverbal.  Because the SIT-R is a screening instrument, it alone should not be used in final placement decisions.  Since the demographics of the United States are constantly changing along with school populations, a norming sample that is older than twelve years should be used with great caution (Johnsen referencing Kubiszyn & Borich, 2000)—For the SIT-R, the last norming sample is twenty two years old!  The manual states that the purpose of the Slosson Intelligence Test (SIT) is to serve as a "quick estimate of general verbal cognitive ability" or "index of verbal intelligence." Although reviewers have described it as a brief screening measure of verbal crystallized intelligence, the manual presents appropriate cautions about interpretation of the SIT as a screening measure, suggesting at several points that follow-up assessment is necessary to corroborate SIT results.  There are many critics of the SIT-R who say the test only provides broad/general information about overall intelligence, and that the IQ scores may be inflated, especially as they relate to the gifted population. Critics feel the SIT-R can be used as a general screen, however it should not be used to make fine distinctions or to categorize students.

10. HOW COULD THIS ASSESSMENT BE IMPROVED? EXTENSIONS OR MODIFICATIONS?  While the SIT-R is offered using braille for the visually impaired, it is only offered in English—one suggestion would be to offer this assessment in various languages, so it could be used fairly with culturally diverse students.  The test was last normed in 1990—one suggestion would be to undergo the norming process to more accurately reflect current demographics in the United States.

11. REFERENCES  Academic Therapy Publications—Slosson Intelligence Test (SIT- R)http:// www.academictherapy.com/detailATP.tpl?action=search&eqskudatarq=DDD- 802&eqTitledatarq=Slosson%20Intelligence%20Test%20-%203%20(SIT- R3)&eqvendordatarq=ATP&bobby=%5Bbobby%5D&bob=%5Bbob%5D&TBL=%5Btbl%5D&  Association for Assessment in Counseling and Education—Test Review: Slosson Intelligence Test-Revised (SIT-R) http://aac.ncat.edu/newsnotes/y01win.htmlhttp://aac.ncat.edu/newsnotes/y01win.html  Bennington, J., Evens, J., Firmin, M., Hwang, Chi-en, & Keyser, S. Correlations Among Quick Picture Reading Test-The Shipley Institute of Living Scale, and the Slosson Intelligence Test Revised (SIT-R)., Eastern Education Journal., Vol. 8 (1) Spring 2009. p. 11-19.  Johnsen, Susan K.(2004). Identifying gifted students-a practical guide. Waco Texas: Prufrock Press, Inc.  Northeastern Illinois University—Intelligence Tests http://www.neiu.edu/~mecondon/307intel.htm http://www.neiu.edu/~mecondon/307intel.htm