Examiner's Manual & Technical Report - Kaplanco.com

Establishing Basals and CeilingsBecause the items on the LAP-D are arranged in a hierarchy from least to most difficult, onlya subset of items needs to be administered to an individual child to obtain an accurate pictureof his/her skill level. Therefore, the LAP-D is designed to be administered using basal andceiling rules. It is assumed that a child could pass earlier (easier) items before the basal andwould not be able to demonstrate later (harder) items after the ceiling. A basal and a ceilingmust be obtained for each subscale in order to correctly determine the child’s score.Basal RulesEstablishing or finding the basal simply means determining the point in the assessment whereit is assumed that the child could perform all earlier items. This point, the basal, isdetermined as the first point at which the child successfully performs three consecutive items(i.e., three pluses).1. Because it is important that the child establish a basal (or initial level of successfulfunctioning), the demonstration of three consecutive correct items has been designatedas the basal for the LAP-D.2. From the starting point, administer the first item and work forward to obtain a basal.3. If a minus (-) is obtained before the child achieves three consecutive pluses, workbackwards in increments of three items until a basal is established.4. After the basal is obtained, move forward, administering any omitted items until theceiling is determined.5. If a basal cannot be established even though you have worked backward to the first item(the child is functioning below the first item), use the first item in the subscale as thebasal. (Note: For children performing below the 30 month level, a more comprehensivepicture of their skills may be obtained with the Early LAP, designed for measuring skillsof children in the birth to 36 month-old-range.6. After the basal has been obtained, mark a heavy line above the first item of the basal.It is not necessary to administer any items prior to the basal in order to obtain an accuratescore on the LAP-D.In Figures 3a-3b, Jorge’s chronological age is 54 months. Examine the basals for each example,indicated by the heavy line.23