The Development of a Listening Comprehension Test for Kindergarten and Beginning First Grade

Abstract

Results of a year's study to develop and validate a test of listening comprehension for kindergarten and beginning first grade (TLC) are presented. Two forms of the test were written, each consisting of six graded passages and 84 questions presuming to measure literal and inferential comprehension. One hundred forty kindergarten pupils, participating in small groups, marked picture responses after receiving standardized auditory stimuli through individual headsets. The TLC fulfilled two of the three statistical criteria for parallel tests. The alternate-form and internal reliabilities should be considered high. Content, criterion-related, and predictive validities were established. Results of the study suggested that, in light of the population studied, the two forms of the Wallner Test of Listening Comprehension appear to have sufficient reliability and validity to warrant their use as measures of early listening comprehension.