Description
Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning™ Fourth Edition (DIAL™-4) is a global screener for assessing large groups of children quickly and efficiently.
Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning™ Fourth Edition (DIAL™-4) is a global screener for assessing large groups of children quickly and efficiently.
Author:
Carol Mardell, PhD, Dorothea S. Goldenberg, EdD
Overview:A global screener for assessing large groups of children quickly and efficiently
Age Range:2:6–5:11
Scoring Option:Q-global™ Scoring and Reporting or Manual Scoring
RTI Tiers:RTI Level 1
Completion Time:30-45 Minutes
Scores/Interpretation:DIAL-4 provides standard deviation and percentile cutoff points by chronological age at two-month intervals for total and area scores—Motor, Concepts, Language, Self-Help, and Social Development. Percentile ranks and standard scores also are provided.
Publication Date:2011
New features enhance screener’s ability to help predict academic success
As much as you’ve enjoyed using DIAL™-3 for quickly screening large groups of young children, the DIAL™-4 delivers even greater benefits! Updates offer early childhood professionals further advantages with time-saving testing, easier administration, and enhanced reliability.
Users & Applications
DIAL-4 is used by:
- Preschool and kindergarten teachers
- Early childhood specialists
- Child development center personnel
- Head Start program
- Program administrators
Content & Administration
You administer the tool by presenting stimuli one at a time using a dial, manipulatives, and other materials. To give you comprehensive information, DIAL-4 provides scores for all five early childhood areas:
- Motor area: Gross Motor items include catching, jumping, hopping, and skipping. Fine Motor items include building with blocks, cutting, copying shapes and letters, and writing, and a popular fingertouching task.
- Language area: Items include answering simple personal questions (name, age, and sex), articulation, naming (expressive) or identifying (receptive) objects and actions, plus phonemic awareness tasks such as rhyming and “I Spy.”
- Concepts area: Items include pointing to named body parts, naming or identifying colors, rote counting, counting blocks, identifying concepts in a triad of pictures, and sorting shapes. Includes an item that assesses automatic naming of objects, a skill that is associated with potential learning disabilities.
- Self-help development: Looks at the child’s development of personal care skills related to dressing, eating, and grooming.
- Social development: Looks at the child’s development of social skills with other children and parents, including rule compliance, sharing, self-control, and empathy.
Features & Benefits
- New norms to support updated edition
- Lowered floor from 3:0 to 2:6
- New items to measure skills important for predicting academic success
- Reformatted Handbooks and Record Form for easier administration and scoring
- Simplified administration instructions and scoring rules to reduce errors
- Teacher Questionnaire allowing for information from multiple sources
Materials
Training materials
- Manual
- Easy-to-follow Operator’s Handbooks
- Lightweight, one-piece dials
- Separate zippered bags for the area materials
- Easy-to-use carrying bag
- Teacher Questionnaire—Offers the opportunity for teacher feedback
- Parent Questionnaire—Helps gather information about the child’s health history, background, and development of self-help and social skills
- Report to Parents—Helps facilitate discussion with parents and caregivers about their child’s progress
- Optional Parent-Child Activity Form—Suggests activities parents can use to help their child improve motor, language, concepts, self-help, and social skills
SpeedDIAL-4
Save even more time with a shortened version of DIAL-4. Speed DIAL is appropriate for quick screening in smaller settings such as departments of public health, pediatric offices, health fairs, homes, and classrooms
Scoring & Reporting using Q-global
Accessible from any computer connected to the Internet, Q-global helps administrators quickly and efficiently:
- Upload child information into the system via a csv file
- Enter raw scores
- Generate accurate reports for individual children or groups of children
- Securely access assessment information
This scoring and reporting system is designed for entering raw scores from the paper based record form only. You will not be able to administer the DIAL-4 online using this program.
Two options for scoring and reporting the DIAL-4 are now available on Q-global.
The first option is to pay per-report. Customers who administer the DIAL-4 only a few times each year, or those who want the flexibility to pay only as the assessment is used, may prefer this option.
The second option is to select an “unlimited use” subscription, where one user of the DIAL-4 gets unlimited scoring and reporting for one, three, or five years depending on the selected term of the subscription. This may be a better option for customers who administer the DIAL-4 several times each year—and don’t want to worry about keeping track of their report expenses.
For additional information regarding setting up a Q-global account or ordering usages, as well as details around system requirements and security, please click here.
Sample Reports
DIAL-4 Sample Score Report (English)
DIAL-4 Sample Score Report (Spanish)
DIAL-4 Sample Group Report with Percentiles
DIAL-4 Sample Group Report with Weighted Scores
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DIAL-4 Training
This pre-recorded 20-30 minute session allows you to learn at your leisure. All you need is access to the Internet and the sound enabled on your computer. Please keep in mind that the session may take a few minutes to load.
DIAL-4 purchasers can attend 8 training sessions geared toward administration, scoring and interpretation.
Getting Started with Q-global Training Series
View these brief training modules about Q-global
Module 1: Gaining Access to Q-global
Module 2: Signing in and setting up your account
Upcoming Webinars
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Identifying Young Children at Risk: Top Ten Predictors
Presenter: Gloria Maccow, PhD, HSP-P
Typical preschool-age children do a number of things with amazing skill. They dress themselves, brush their teeth, and wash their hands. They run, climb, hop, kick, bounce a ball, and ride a tricycle. They manipulate blocks and books, and they use crayons and pencils to write and draw. They interact appropriately with adults and peers, and they understand and use language. These skills and behaviors provide the foundation for classroom learning.
Unfortunately, not all students begin school having mastered the skills, knowledge, and behavior that will enable them to develop academic, behavioral, and social competence. These students may require early intervening services and supports in order to succeed in the classroom.
This webinar will describe the top ten predictors early childhood educators use to identify young children at risk for academic failure. The presenter will use data from the DIAL-4 to identify the interventions and supports a child needs.
Pre-recorded Webinars
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Overview of DIAL-4
Presenter: Gloria Maccow, PhD
The DIAL-4 is a standardized instrument that is used to screen large groups of children quickly and efficiently. Data from the DIAL-4 are used to describe the strengths and needs of young children in five areas of development: motor, concepts, language, self-help, and social-emotional. During this one-hour webinar, the presenter will provide an overview of the DIAL-4.
Date: Oct 15, 2014
PDF: Overview of DIAL-4
Video: Overview of DIAL-4
