Answer vital questions about

your students’ language and

literacy skills

with TILLS

Does my student have a language/literacy disorder? What are my student’s strengths and weaknesses? How is my student progressing?

Learn how...

TEST OF INTEGRATED LANGUAGE & LITERACY SKILLS™ (TILLS™) is the

reliable, valid assessment professionals need to test oral and written language

skills in students ages 6—18 years.

Designed & standardized for 3 purposes, TILLS:

Identifies language and literacy disorders

Documents patterns of relative strengths and

weaknesses Tracks changes in language

and literacy skills over time

Best of all, TILLS puts your data in an easy-to-understand format that's ready to share with colleagues and parents.

Here’s how...

Does my student have a language or literacy disorder?

IDENTIFY DOCUMENT TRACK

To answer this question, complete the Identification Chart on page 39

of the Examiner Record Form.

It's simple—just follow the instructions on the next few slides.

First, you'll need to administer the TILLS subtests that effectively identify language and literacy disorders in children your student's age. The chart below lists these subtests in the Identification Core column.

TILLS subtests that support diagnosis of language and literacy disorders at different ages

IDENTIFY DOCUMENT TRACK

When you're done administering the subtests, add together your

student’s Standard Scores for each subtest that is part of the Identification

Core for his or her age to get the Sum of Identification Core Standard

Scores. Then you'll enter that number into the Identification Chart.

IDENTIFY DOCUMENT TRACK

The last thing you'll do is compare the Sum of Identification Core

Standard Scores to the age-appropriate Cut Score. If it’s less than the

Cut Score, then your student’s score is consistent with the presence of a language/literacy disorder.

What are my student’s strengths and weaknesses?

IDENTIFY DOCUMENT TRACK

The TILLS Profile Chart gives you a complete picture of your student’s

strengths and weaknesses across oral and written language skills. On the

next few slides, you'll learn how to create a TILLS profile.

IDENTIFY DOCUMENT TRACK

Your first steps to creating a TILLS profile are:

administer all 15 of the TILLS subtests

calculate the raw score for each subtest and enter it in

the Scoring Chart

look up the corresponding standard score for the student's

age in the Examiner's Manual Appendix

record the standard scores on page 1 of the Examiner Record

Form

IDENTIFY DOCUMENT TRACK

Then, transfer the standard score for each subtest to the Profile Chart on

page 40 of the Examiner Record Form. Be sure to notice that the order changes.

IDENTIFY DOCUMENT TRACK

Next, mark an X over the corresponding score in each column and draw a

vertical line for each subtest to connect the score to the mean. This gives

you an at-a-glance picture of your student's current areas of strengths and weakness.

IDENTIFY DOCUMENT TRACK

The gray area in the figure indicates 1 standard deviation (SD) above the

mean and 1 below. This allows you to quickly see when your student's

performance is more than 1 SD below the mean.

IDENTIFY DOCUMENT TRACK

Sometimes, a student’s true ability may be slightly higher or lower than

the actual score received on the day of testing. That's why TILLS lets you

determine the Confidence Intervals around the actual scores to estimate the range in which your student's true ability falls.

To do this, you’ll use the Confidence Intervals table on page 40 of the

Examiner Record Form. The next few slides show you how.

IDENTIFY DOCUMENT TRACK

First, you’ll enter the Subtest Standard Scores and the Composite Standard

Scores into the appropriate cells in the Confidence Intervals tables.

IDENTIFY DOCUMENT TRACK

Then, decide whether to use the 68% or 90% Confidence Interval and look

up the corresponding Confidence Interval values in the Appendix of the

Examiner’s Manual. Add and subtract these values from each of the standard

scores and enter the sums in the appropriate upper and lower CI boxes.

For the example below, we use a 68% Confidence Interval.

IDENTIFY DOCUMENT TRACK

Finally, in the Profile Chart, draw short horizontal lines above and below

the X that represent the upper and lower CI values. These bands allow you

to see at-a-glance the range in which your student's true ability falls.

How is my student progressing over time?

IDENTIFY DOCUMENT TRACK

TILLS makes it easy for you to track your student's progress.

After a minimum of 6 months, you can readminister the entire TILLS or just

selected subtests to see how your student's skills are improving.

On the next few slides,

you'll learn how easy it

is to use the Tracking

Chart.

IDENTIFY DOCUMENT TRACK

After you readminister TILLS, the first thing you do is enter the

standard scores for both your first and second test times. You'll write these

in the appropriate column for each subtest you administer.

IDENTIFY DOCUMENT TRACK

Next, you'll subtract your student's standard scores earned at Time 1 from

scores earned at Time 2 and record the difference. Then, compare the

absolute values of the difference to the True Change Interval values.

(The True Change Interval values printed in the chart are for the 68% confidence interval; to use a 90% confidence interval, look up these values in the Appendix of the Examiner’s Manual.)

IDENTIFY DOCUMENT TRACK

Finally, if the absolute value of the difference for a subtest is larger than

the True Change Interval, enter “yes” (Y) under Change Decision. If not, enter

“no” (N). If yes, add a sign (+ or -) to indicate whether the difference is

positive or negative or draw an arrow to indicate the direction of change.

With TILLS, you'll have an accurate,

highly reliable way to identify language and literacy disorders in your

students, document strengths and weaknesses, and track their progress

over time.

To learn more about TILLS and get a free sampler, visit www.brookespublishing.com/tills today!