Reliability and Validity of Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test Scores of Disadvantaged Preschool Children

Test-retest correlations over a 2-wk. period for 36 black preschoolers was 0.77 for the standard Peabody test; values of 0.87 and 0.80 were obtained for a modified format with similar samples. Quite modest validity was suggested by correlations of the standard Peabody test with 2 other psychological tests assessing intellectual behaviors and with teachers' ratings of several classroom verbal behaviors. While Form A of the Peabody could be used as a first approximation in a continuing assessment program, scores cannot be considered alone for either intellectual or language evaluation.