Sample A: Cover Page of Thesis, Project, or Dissertation Proposal

score of 0 for incorrect responses and 1 for correct responses to both the identification
and descriptive questions asked by the assessor, thus yielding a possible score of 0 to 2
for each item. The subtest includes 35 items; thus, possible vocabulary scores for the
subtest ranged from 0 to 70 (if the ceiling was not reached (all test items were
administered)). The subtest required approximately 15 minutes to administer (Lonigan,
2006) and can stand alone as an assessment of definitional vocabulary when converted
into a standard score (J. Valdespino, personal communication, February 13, 2008).
The Definitional Vocabulary subtest has demonstrated good reliability for 3-, 4-,
and 5-year-old children of all ethnicities (coefficient alpha = .94, test-retest correlation of
.81 for European American, African American, and Hispanic American children) and for
subgroups of European American (coefficient alpha = .95), African American (coefficient
alpha = .91), and Hispanic American (coefficient alpha = .97) children (Lonigan et al.,
2006b).
Validity analyses revealed that the Definitional Vocabulary subtest is a useful
measure for use in samples of children from deprived environments (Lonigan et al.,
2006b). The corrected correlation of the TOPEL Definitional Vocabulary subtest and the
Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test-2000 Edition (r = .71, p < .0001)
provides evidence of criterion-prediction validity. Analyses assessing construct-
identification validity revealed that the Definitional Vocabulary subtest scores for
European American (n = 659), African American (n = 136), and Hispanic American (n =
120) children were within the average range when compared to the total sample used to
norm the TOPEL. Consistent with test authors‘ expectations, Hispanic American children
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