Preschool Language Scale, 4th Edition (PLS-4)

The Preschool Language Scales assess how a young child understands language and how they use it, from birth through age seven. Testing is play-based — toys, picture books, and manipulatives rather than a question-and-answer format — because a two-year-old will not sit for a formal battery.

Two scales are administered. Auditory Comprehension covers what the child understands: attention, following directions, concepts, grammar. Expressive Communication covers what they produce: sounds and gestures early on, then vocabulary, sentence structure, and storytelling. The two combine into a Total Language score. Results come as standard scores with a mean of 100, plus percentile ranks and age equivalents. Items range from pre-verbal social interaction through early literacy skills.

Licensing Notes: Record forms and picture manuals are consumables. Reproduction requires Pearson permission.

Learn More: Two things worth knowing. Growth Scores track a child's progress from birth through 7:11 even when their standard score does not move — useful when a child is making real gains but remains well below the normative range, which is common in early intervention.