Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing (CTOPP)

An assessment of phonological awareness, phonological memory, and rapid naming.

Individuals with deficits in one or more of these kinds of phonological processing abilities may have more difficulty learning to read than those who do not. The Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing (CTOPP) helps identify individuals, from preschool through to college, who may benefit from intervention activities to enhance their phonological skills.

There are two versions of the CTOPP. The first version is for use with children aged 5 – 6 and contains seven core subtests and one supplemental test. The second version is for use with individuals aged 7 – 24 and contains six core subtests and eight supplemental tests.

Benefits

• Identifies individuals who are significantly below their peers in important phonological abilities.
• Determines strengths and weaknesses among developed phonological processes.
• Helps document an individuals progress in phonological processing as a consequence of special intervention programmes.

CTOPP Composites

The Phonological Awareness Quotient (PAQ) measures an individual’s awareness and access to the phonological structure of oral language.

The Phonological Memory Quotient (PMQ) measures the examinee’s ability to code information phonologically for temporary storage in working or short-term memory.

The Rapid Naming Quotient (RNQ) measures the examinee’s efficient retrieval of phonological information from long-term or permanent memory, as well as the examinee’s ability to execute a sequence of operations quickly and repeatedly.

Scores Available

Percentiles, standard scores, and age and grade equivalents are provided. Percentiles are easily understood by parents and others with whom the examiner might want to share the results. Subtest standard scores have a mean of 10 and a standard deviation of 3. The Phonological Awareness, Phonological Memory, and Rapid Naming quotients have a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15. Age and grade equivalents show the relative standing of individuals’ scores.

Demographic Characteristics

The CTOPP was normed on over 1,600 individuals ranging in age from 5 through 24 and residing in 30 states. Over half of the norming sample came from children in elementary school (through grade five), where the CTOPP is expected to have its widest use. The demographic characteristics of the normative sample are representative of the U.S. population as a whole with regard to gender, race, ethnicity, residence, family income, educational attainment of parents, and geographic regions. The sample characteristics were stratified by age and keyed to the demographic characteristics reported in the 1997 Statistical Abstract of the United States.

Statistical Characteristics

Reliability of the CTOPP was investigated using estimates of content sampling, time sampling, and scorer differences. Most of the average internal consistency or alternate forms reliability coefficients (content sampling) exceed .80. The test/retest (time sampling) coefficients range from .70 to .92. The magnitude of the coefficients reported from all the reliability studies suggests that there is limited error in the CTOPP and that examiners can have confidence in the results.

Complete CTOPP Kit includes: Examiner’s Manual, 25 Profile/Examiner Record Booklets for Ages 5 to 6, 25 Profile/Examiner Record Booklets for Ages 7 to 24, Picture Book and Audio CD