Selected material from the Developmental Profile 4 (DPTM-4) manual. Copyright © 2020 by Western Psychological Services (WPS®).

Provided by WPS for the sole purpose of introductory reference by qualified professionals. Not to be reprinted, excerpted, or distributed in whole
or in part without the prior written authorization of WPS (rights@wpspublish.com). Full materials available for purchase at wpspublish.com.

1
Introduction

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The Developmental Profile 4 (DP-4) is designed to assess the development
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and functioning of individuals from birth through age 21 years, 11 months.
The DP-4 is administered as a direct interview of a parent or caregiver, as a
checklist completed by a parent/caregiver or teacher, or as a rating form com-
pleted by the clinician. This allows for evaluation of a child’s1 development
across both home and school settings, and from the perspectives of different
respondents. Each of the four DP-4 forms measures the same five areas of
development: Physical, Adaptive Behavior, Social–Emotional, Cognitive,
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and Communication.
The DP-4 is a revision of the Developmental Profile 3 (DP-3; Alpern, 2007),
a well-established measure of development that, along with its previous
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versions, has long been considered by users as quick, easy, informative, reli-
able, and valid. This revision maintains the strongest aspects of the previous
versions while incorporating new features and improvements, such as the
addition of two new forms (Teacher Checklist and Clinician Rating forms)
and one new score type (growth score).
The DP-4 can be used effectively in a variety of settings to provide a detailed
account of a child’s developmental strengths and weaknesses while simul-
taneously identifying developmental delay. Research suggests that early
identification of and intervention for developmental disabilities are essential
(Adams & Tapia, 2013), highlighting the need for an efficient and accurate
assessment of development such as the DP-4. In defining a child with a
disability, current federal special education legislation (Individuals with Dis-
abilities Education Improvement Act [IDEIA], 2004) delineates the five areas
of development that are required for determining developmental delay. The
DP-4 meets the criteria outlined by current government regulations as a diag-
nostic instrument for identifying concerns in a child’s development.

1 Although the DP-4 can assess development and functioning of individuals aged up to 21 years, 11 months, the term child is used
throughout this manual to reflect the developmental content of the DP-4 and the age range in which it is most commonly used.

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 DP-4 Materials

The DP-4 can be administered using print materials Teacher Checklist This new form is used to gather
or via the WPS Online Evaluation System (OES) at information about the child in their educational
platform.wpspublish.com. The print components setting. The item content of the Teacher Checklist
of the DP-4 include this manual and four forms. is almost identical to that of the Parent/Caregiver
Administration of these forms is discussed further in Interview and Parent/Caregiver Checklist; however,
Chapter 2. The OES provides online access to elec- some items have been altered for more relevance to
tronic versions of the same components as the print the school setting, and 10 others have been removed.
version, and also includes convenient online scoring The age range for this form is 2 years, 0 months to
and several automatically generated reports. 21 years, 11 months. A Spanish version of this form
is also available.
Parent/Caregiver Interview This is the recom-
mended administration of the DP-4. The interview Clinician Rating This new form is identical in con-
takes approximately 20 to 40 minutes and can be tent to the Parent/Caregiver Interview and differs only
conducted with a parent or caregiver who is familiar in its method of administration and in the scores it
with the developmental functioning of the child. The yields (it does not yield standard scores; see Chapter 2

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age range for this form is birth to 21 years, 11 months. for more details). It is provided as a means for the cli-
A Spanish version of this form is also available. nician to answer the same items, based on their own
knowledge and experience with the child. The age
Parent/Caregiver Checklist When an interview is
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not possible, the DP-4 offers this checklist version,
which consists of the same item content as the Parent/ This manual also contains an appendix titled Inter-
Caregiver Interview form and can be given to a par- vention Activities, which offers suggested activities
ent or caregiver to complete. The age range for this for each skill measured by the DP-4. These activities
form is birth to 21 years, 11 months. A Spanish ver- can be used to develop a treatment plan for the child
sion of this form is also available. and can be implemented by parents, caregivers,
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clinicians, and teachers.

DP-4 Content and Scores

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Each of the DP-4 forms assesses the respondent’s per- coordination, strength, stamina, flexibility, and
ceptions of a child’s developmental skills that typically sequential motor skills. The items are categorized
emerge throughout infancy and childhood. The full into those that assess gross-motor skills and those
range of development can be measured in children up that assess fine-motor skills.
through the elementary school years; however, norm-
Adaptive Behavior (41 items) This scale mea-
referenced scores are available through age 21 years,
sures the respondent’s perceptions of the child’s
11 months to allow assessment of delayed develop-
competence in activities of daily living. It evaluates
ment at any point in this age range.
the child’s ability to perform tasks such as eating,
The DP-4 measures a child’s development by pro- dressing, self-care, functioning independently, and
viding scores for scales in the following five key utilizing modern technology.
areas of development: Physical, Adaptive Behavior,
Social–Emotional (36 items) This scale measures
Social–Emotional, Cognitive, and Communication.
the respondent’s perceptions of the child’s inter-
(Note: The Teacher Checklist has fewer items than
personal relationship skills, social and emotional
indicated in parentheses.)
understanding, and functional performance in social
Physical (37 items) This scale measures the situations. Specifically, this scale assesses the manner
respondent’s perceptions of the child’s ability to in which the child relates to friends, relatives, and
perform tasks requiring large- and small-muscle unrelated adults.

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 Cognitive (42 items) This scale measures the into those that measure receptive communication
respondent’s perceptions of the child’s develop- and those that measure expressive communication.
ment of skills necessary for successful academic and
In addition to the five scale scores, the DP-4 also offers a
intellectual functioning. At younger ages, this scale
General Development Score (GDS), which is a compre-
assesses skills that are prerequisite to scholastic func-
hensive measure of development across the five scales.
tioning in academic areas such as reading, writing,
See Chapter 4 for more on how this score was derived.
arithmetic, computer use, and logic. At the preschool
and older ages, the skills measured are more directly Normative reference scores (standard scores) are
tied to actual school curriculum. available for the five scales, and an overall compos-
ite (General Development Score) is available for the
Communication (34 items) This scale measures the
Parent/Caregiver Interview, Parent/Caregiver Check-
respondent’s perceptions of the child’s expressive
list, and Teacher Checklist forms. The development
and receptive communication skills, as indicated
of the Clinician Rating form did not permit the
through both verbal and nonverbal language. The
derivation of standard scores. See Chapter 4 for
use and understanding of spoken, written, and
additional information on the derivation of stan-
gestural language are assessed by this scale, as is the
dard scores.
ability to effectively use communication devices
(e.g., phone, computer). The items are categorized Growth scores, a robust method for progress monitor-
ing, are available for the five scales on all four forms.

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DP-4 Improvements
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This revision preserves the essential features of the 4. Updated item content, including removal of
DP-3 while providing updates and additions that outdated items and addition of items related to
enhance the assessment’s value and utility. These technology and social media. Furthermore, item
improvements include: placement was improved through statistical item
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analysis (e.g., some items were moved from the
1. An updated, nationally representative normative
Cognitive Scale to the Communication Scale, and
sample (including Spanish-language speakers)
vice versa, to increase the consistency of each
that closely approximates the gender, ethnic,
of those scales). See Chapter 4 for more details
geographic, and socioeconomic composition of
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about these updates.

the U.S. population. This sample also includes
children diagnosed with clinical conditions that 5. Growth scores are now available on all forms and
are relevant to the intended use of the DP-4 (e.g., are useful for tracking progress over time without
autism, developmental delay). The standardization reference to the child’s age. Growth scores are
sample and study are described in Chapter 4. based on raw scores and therefore are particularly
helpful for children who function at a very low
2. An expanded age range, with norm-referenced
level of ability, and for whom standard scores
scores available for ages birth through 21 years,
do not provide enough information (see Chap-
11 months, which allows for assessment of devel-
ter 3 for further discussion). Growth scores can
opment in delayed adolescents and young adults
also be used to compare scores across scales and
as well as in children.
respondents.
3. Two new forms: (a) the Teacher Checklist form,
6. A Rater Comparison Scoring Sheet is available to
to be completed by a teacher or other educa-
determine similarities and differences between
tional provider, to document their insight about
respondents (e.g., parent and teacher). This form is
a child’s development in an educational setting;
available for download from the WPS Online Evalu-
and (b) the Clinician Rating form, to provide cli-
ation System (OES) at platform.wpspublish.com.
nicians with a means of documenting their own
evaluation of a child’s developmental skills.

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 Uses of the DP-4

The DP-4 is a valuable instrument for any setting

in which an efficient measure of any one or all five
· Identifying skill deficits and providing interven-
tion guidelines
areas of functional development is needed. It can be
used in schools, clinics, hospitals, or any other set- · Measuring progress by comparing growth scores
from repeated administrations

·
ting where an evaluation of a child’s developmental
abilities, strengths, and weaknesses is useful. Comparing assessments from multiple
respondents
The instrument allows the clinician to determine
how the child compares with their peers in five Also, since the DP-4 provides a rapid and accurate
essential areas of development. These norm-based measure of development in five essential areas, it can
comparisons can be used to accomplish a variety of be used as a component in periodic developmental
assessment and educational objectives, such as: programs conducted by health practitioners.

· Determining eligibility for special education

and/or related services
Finally, the DP-4 can effectively be used in research
when it is necessary to distinguish between typically

· developing and delayed children, or when a measure

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Helping to plan an individualized educational of program evaluation is required.
program (IEP) or individual family service plan
(IFSP) consistent with the child’s strengths
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Summary of Standardization and Technical Properties

The DP-4 is based on data gathered from a survey In addition to the standardization samples, a clini-
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of DP-3 users, a pilot study, a comprehensive stan- cal validation sample was collected. This sample
dardization study, and several reliability and validity consisted of 348 children with a clinical diagnosis
studies, all of which are described in detail in Chap- of autism, intellectual disability, developmental
ters 4 and 5. disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
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(ADHD), hearing impairment, learning disability,

The DP-4 Parent/Caregiver Interview form was
mood disorder, speech/language impairment, visual
standardized on a nationally representative sample
impairment, physical disability, or other disability.
of 2,259 children and young adults aged from birth
All children in the clinical validation sample were
to 21 years, 11 months. The sample includes typi-
receiving special education services at the time of
cally developing and selected clinical cases, and was
assessment.
recruited so that its demographic composition would
match the U.S. Census in terms of gender, ethnicity, The DP-4 provides age-based standard scores in
geographic region, and socioeconomic status (SES, as the increments displayed in Table 1.1. The smaller
indexed by parents’ educational level). The standard- increments in the younger age groups reflect the
ization sample was used to derive the age-stratified rapid development of children in those age ranges,
standard scores that form the basis of interpretation while the larger increments in the older age groups
of the DP-4 results. The Parent/Caregiver Checklist reflect the decrease in rate of growth as children get
and Teacher Checklist forms were each standard- older. Consideration of the age groups in the DP-3,
ized on separate subsamples of the Parent/Caregiver statistical analyses of the standardization datasets,
Interview standardization sample. These samples and reference to the literature on child development
and standardization processes are detailed further informed the creation of these age groups for the DP-4.
in Chapter 4.

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 Table 1.1. Age-Based Standard Score Increments of than 0.07). Interrater reliability estimates ranged
the DP-4 Scales from .60 to .92, with small effect sizes (none larger
Number of age than 0.15). When reliability was estimated for the
Standard score groups in range other forms, strong estimates were also found. Taken
Age range increments (Total groups = 30)
together, these estimates support the stability of DP-4
Birth–1:11 2 months 12 results within scales, within forms, over time, and
2:0–2:11 3 months 3 across raters. See Chapter 5 for further discussion of
3:0–6:11 6 months 8 the reliability of the DP-4.
7:0–10:11 12 months 4 Many studies conducted during development
11:0–12:11 24 months 1 provide validity evidence for the DP-4. Descriptive
13:0–21:11 48 months 2 analyses confirm that across age groups, the DP-4
raw scores showed an expected developmental
increase similar to that observed with the DP-3.
The DP-4 has strong internal consistency, test–retest
Interscale correlations, factor analysis, and Rasch
reliability, interrater reliability, alternate-form
analyses confirm the construct validity of the DP-4.
reliability, and cross-form consistency. The DP-4
The standard scores correlate in expected ways with
internal consistency reliability coefficients for the
other measures of development. Finally, the DP-4
Parent/Caregiver Interview standardization sample
standard scores distinguish children in the clinical

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were ≥.70, and many were greater than .90. Test–
validation sample from matched samples of typically
retest correlations (at two-week intervals) ranged
developing youth. See Chapter 5 for further discus-
from .65 to .84, with small effect sizes (none larger
sion of these validity studies.
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Principles of Use

The DP-4 can be administered and scored by a they are working within the scope of their practice
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professional who is familiar with and competent in in a competent, legal, and ethical manner. It is the
psychological or educational testing, or by a para- responsibility of each user to determine their own
professional. Interpretation and application of the competence for using the DP-4 by evaluating its
results require a professional or the supervision of principles of use in light of their training and experi-
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a professional with training and experience in child ence, the intended scope of use (e.g., in a research
development, psychology, and/or education. Stan- setting, for diagnostic purposes), and the guidelines
dards of practice for which professionals may engage set forth by relevant professional organizations and
in assessment vary greatly within different countries, licensing boards (including the American Psycho-
states, and localities. WPS authorizes individuals logical Association Standards for Educational and
or institutions to purchase the DP-4 based on the Psychological Testing, 2014).
user’s stated education and experience, or the stated
As with any instrument, the DP-4 should not be used
education and experience of the purchaser’s direct
in isolation to diagnose or plan treatment for a child.
supervisor. In the case of institutions (e.g., a school
Instead, it should be used in concert with other data,
district purchasing on behalf of its professional
such as information derived from concurrent or
employees), the employment of professionals with
former assessments, other detailed interviews and
relevant education and experience is considered.
history-taking, and observations.
In addition to the authorization required to purchase
the DP-4, each potential user must also ensure that

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