What is the TOLD-I:5? The Test of Language Development-Intermediate explained
The TOLD-I:5 is PRO-ED's individually administered spoken language test for ages 8-17. See its subtests, scores, norms, and how it differs from an IQ test.
Dr. Russell T. WarneChief Scientist
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The TOLD-I:5, or Test of Language Development-Intermediate: Fifth Edition, is an individually administered test of spoken language for students ages 8 years 0 months through 17 years 11 months, published by PRO-ED and written by Donald D. Hammill and Phyllis L. Newcomer. A trained professional, usually a speech-language pathologist or educational diagnostician, gives it one on one in 30 minutes to an hour. It is not an IQ test. Its composite scores use the same mean-100 scale as intelligence tests, but the TOLD-I:5 measures how well a student understands and uses spoken English, while an IQ test estimates general reasoning ability across many domains. This article covers what the test measures, its subtests, scoring and norms, who administers it, and how it relates to intelligence testing.
What the TOLD-I:5 measures
According to PRO-ED, the publisher, the TOLD-I:5 assesses spoken language in intermediate-age students, and professionals use it for four purposes: to identify students who are significantly below their peers in oral language proficiency, to determine their specific strengths and weaknesses in oral language skills, to document their progress in remedial programs, and to measure oral language in research studies.
The test is organized around two dimensions of language. The first is linguistic features: "semantics" (the meaning of words and phrases) and "grammar" (the rules for building and combining words and sentences). The second is linguistic systems: listening, organizing, and speaking. Every subtest sits at the crossing of one feature and one system, so the battery samples spoken language as a grid rather than a single lump. The companion instrument for younger children, the TOLD-P:5, uses the same model for ages 4 through 8, and PRO-ED sells the two as a combined set.
Why does this matter past third grade? The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders reports that "developmental language disorder" affects approximately 1 in 14 children in kindergarten and that its impact persists into adulthood, with affected adults six times more likely to be diagnosed with reading and spelling disabilities and four times more likely to be diagnosed with math disabilities. A well-normed instrument for older children and adolescents lets evaluators measure language during the years when reading comprehension, written expression, and classroom discussion place heavier demands on it.
The six subtests
PRO-ED describes six subtests, each tagged with the feature and system it targets.
• Sentence Combining (grammar, speaking): the student combines two to five short, simple sentences into one complex or compound sentence while keeping all of the original meaning.
• Picture Vocabulary (semantics, listening): the student shows understanding of the meanings of spoken two-word phrases.
• Word Ordering (grammar, organizing): the student builds a meaningful sentence from a set of words the examiner presents orally in random order.
• Relational Vocabulary (semantics, organizing): the student identifies the abstract relationship that exists among a set of spoken words.
• Multiple Meanings (semantics, speaking): the student provides different meanings for spoken stimulus words.
Administration is oral and individual. The examiner reads items aloud or presents them from a picture book and records responses in a record booklet. The fifth edition added "basal rules" (age-based entry points that let the examiner skip items a student of that age is expected to pass) on four of the six subtests to shorten testing. There is no group format and no self-administered version.
How the TOLD-I:5 is scored
The results of the six subtests combine into composite scores for what PRO-ED calls the major dimensions of language: semantics and grammar; listening, organizing, and speaking; and overall language ability. The test yields four kinds of normative scores.
• Subtest scaled scores: each subtest converts to a "scaled score," a standard score with a mean of 10 and a standard deviation of 3, based on the student's age.
• Composite indexes: combinations of subtests form indexes with a mean of 100 and a "standard deviation" (a measure of how spread out scores are) of 15, the same metric used by major IQ tests.
• Percentile ranks: the percentage of same-age students in the norm sample who scored at or below a given score.
• Age equivalents: subtest raw scores translated into what the publisher calls "language ages," the weakest metric for interpretation because they do not describe standing among same-age peers.
The complete kit includes an Online Scoring and Report System that converts raw scores, produces composite indexes, percentile ranks, and confidence intervals, flags significant differences between a student's own scores, and generates a narrative report. The confidence intervals deserve attention. Every standardized score carries measurement error, so a composite of 88 is better read as a range than as a fixed point. Readers who want the mechanics can see our walkthrough of raw scores versus scaled scores.
Norms and technical evidence
PRO-ED reports that the fifth edition was normed on an all-new sample of 1,012 students, stratified by age to match the projected 2015 U.S. school-age population as reported in the ProQuest Statistical Abstract of the United States 2017. Roughly a thousand students across ten age years is a modest sample by the standards of major intelligence batteries, which is one more reason to rely on confidence intervals rather than point scores.
The publisher also reports new studies for this edition. Test bias studies, including "differential item functioning" analyses (statistical checks that an item behaves the same way for different groups of equal overall ability), are reported to show little or no bias with respect to gender, race, or ethnicity. Validity studies include diagnostic accuracy analyses, which use sensitivity, specificity, and ROC/AUC statistics to describe how well the test separates students with genuine language problems from typically developing peers, along with a confirmatory factor analysis of the test's structure.
These are the publisher's own descriptions. The product page does not report specific reliability coefficients, so this article does not claim any; those figures live in the examiner's manual and in independent test reviews.
How the TOLD-I:5 differs from an IQ test
The shared 100-point scale is the main source of confusion, and the difference lies in what each test samples. An IQ test draws on a broad set of cognitive tasks, such as reasoning with novel patterns, spatial visualization, working memory, and processing speed, to estimate general intelligence. The TOLD-I:5 restricts itself to spoken English. A student can score in the average range on a nonverbal reasoning measure and well below average on the TOLD-I:5, and that pattern is informative rather than contradictory, because the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association defines a spoken language disorder as a persistent difficulty in the acquisition and use of listening and speaking skills.
The association also advises against "cognitive referencing," the practice of comparing a child's IQ score with a language score to decide whether the child qualifies for speech and language services. Its stated concerns include that the relationship between language and cognition is complex and changes over time, and that cognitive and language tests often measure some of the same underlying skills. In practice a TOLD-I:5 result is interpreted on its own terms, alongside observation, case history, and classroom data, and a low language score is not set aside simply because an IQ score is also low.
The TOLD-I:5 belongs to a family of language batteries rather than intelligence scales. Evaluators choosing among comprehensive instruments for the same age band may also consider the CELF-5, which covers ages 5 through 21. School teams often pair a language battery with an intelligence test to describe the two abilities separately.
Who administers it and what the results are used for
The TOLD-I:5 is a restricted professional instrument. PRO-ED lists it at qualification level B, which under the company's published policy means the purchaser needs a relevant master's degree with formal training in test administration, certification or full membership in a professional organization such as ASHA, or a license in a healthcare or allied healthcare field. PRO-ED states that this policy follows the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing published by the American Educational Research Association, the American Psychological Association, and the National Council on Measurement in Education. Parents cannot buy the test or give it at home, and no online quiz reproduces it.
Results typically feed special education eligibility evaluations, speech-language therapy planning, and progress monitoring, which is why PRO-ED lists documenting progress in remedial programs among the test's core purposes. In research, the composites provide a standardized measure of oral language.
Two limitations deserve mention. First, the norms describe English performance in the United States, and ASHA cautions that standard scores should not be reported when a test is translated or used with a population it was not intended for, including speakers of dialects outside General American English. Second, a score describes performance on one day with one examiner. A below-average composite is a signal to investigate, and diagnosis of any language disorder belongs to a qualified clinician.
Where the RIOT IQ test fits
Adults who see a TOLD-I:5 report on a child's evaluation sometimes ask how their own cognitive abilities would be measured. The relevant instrument class is different. The RIOT IQ test (the Reasoning and Intelligence Online Test), developed by RIOT IQ with psychometrician Dr. Russell T. Warne, measures general cognitive ability in adults 18 and older through 15 subtests across six cognitive indices: verbal reasoning, fluid reasoning, spatial ability, working memory, processing speed, and reaction time. It takes about 52 minutes and reports scores on the same mean-100, standard-deviation-15 scale described above. It is a reasoning measure rather than a language test, and it does not replace an individually administered diagnostic evaluation. You can learn more or take the test at riotiq.com.
Frequently asked questions
What ages does the TOLD-I:5 cover?
PRO-ED lists the age range as 8 years 0 months through 17 years 11 months. Children ages 4-0 to 8-11 take the companion TOLD-P:5; the ranges overlap at age 8 so the examiner can choose the more appropriate form.
Is the TOLD-I:5 an IQ test?
No. It is a test of spoken language, covering semantics and grammar across listening, organizing, and speaking. Its composites use the same mean-100, standard-deviation-15 scale as IQ tests, but it does not measure nonverbal reasoning, spatial ability, working memory, or processing speed, and it does not produce an IQ score.
What scores does the TOLD-I:5 produce?
Four types: subtest scaled scores (mean 10, standard deviation 3), composite indexes (mean 100, standard deviation 15), percentile ranks, and age equivalents. The composites cover semantics, grammar, listening, organizing, speaking, and overall spoken language.
Who wrote and published the TOLD-I:5?
Donald D. Hammill and Phyllis L. Newcomer are the authors, and PRO-ED publishes it. The complete kit carries a 2020 copyright according to PRO-ED's listing.
Can a student have a low TOLD-I:5 score and an average IQ?
Yes, and that pattern is one reason language tests exist. ASHA defines a spoken language disorder as a persistent difficulty with listening and speaking skills, and it advises against using an IQ score to decide whether a student qualifies for language services.
References
1. PRO-ED. (n.d.). TOLD-I:5: Test of Language Development–Intermediate: Fifth Edition, Complete Kit.. proedinc.com
3. PRO-ED. (n.d.). TOLD-P:5: Test of Language Development–Primary: Fifth Edition, Complete Kit.. proedinc.com
4. Western Psychological Services. (n.d.). (TOLD-I:5) Test of Language Development–Intermediate: Fifth Edition.. wpspublish.com
5. National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. (n.d.). Developmental language disorder.. nidcd.nih.gov
6. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (n.d.). Spoken language disorders (Practice Portal). asha.org
7. American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, and National Council on Measurement in Education. (2014). Standards for educational and psychological testing.. testingstandards.net
Hero photo: A student reading a red hardcover book at a table. Photo by freestocks.org, via Wikimedia Commons, CC0 (cropped).
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