Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals® - Fourth Edition (CELF® - 4)

Break New Ground With CELF-4 and Set a New, More Comprehensive Standard for Excellence in Language Assessment

CELF-4 gives you everything that you are looking for
when evaluating a student’s language performance.
Combine core subtests with supplementary subtests
to get a comprehensive assessment of a student’s language skills.

CELF is based on a four-level process model.

Features & Benefits

• New! Digital Stimulus Book – display visual stimuli on your desktop or laptop. Hotlinks and icons take you to the section of the test you want to administer. Order now
• CELF-4 provides the bridge that helps you understand a child’s need for classroom language modifications, enhancements, or curriculum modifications
• Flexibility of subtest administration allows for shorter testing time while providing highly reliable, accurate results
• Composite scores include Core Language, Receptive Language, Expressive Language, Language Structure, Language Content, Language Memory, and Working Memory Indexes as Standard Scores
• Culturally appropriate contexts and visual stimuli make CELF-4 appropriate and interesting for all students
• Updated norms are based on a diverse standardization sample of 2,650 subjects that reflect the updated 2000 U.S. Census, including children with identified conditions and diagnosed language disorders.
• New subtests include Expressive Vocabulary, Word Definitions, Number Repetition 1 and 2, Phonological Awareness, Pragmatics Profile, and the Observational Rating Scale.
• CELF®–4 Interactive Training CD

Obtain descriptive indicators of students' language performance in class and at home.

Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-Fourth Edition (CELF-4)

It’s faster, flexible, and more reliable.
The CELF®–4 Assessment Process model ultimately gives you everything you need when evaluating a student’s language performance to meet IDEA mandates.

• Faster administration of norm-referenced core subtests that gives an even more accurate diagnosis of a language disorder.
• Flexibility that lets you guide the assessment of your client to respond to referral questions, assessment needs, and program planning.
• More reliable with updated norms that reflect the 2000 U.S. Census, with 39% of the 2,650 students from minority families and 10% students identified as having a disability.
• Features new subtests including Expressive Vocabulary, Word Definitions, Number Repetition 1 & 2, Familiar Sequences 1& 2, Phonological Awareness, Pragmatics Profile, and Observational Rating Scale.

The CELF®–4 assessment process has the flexibility and diagnostic information that you need to design an individualized assessment path for each client.

Level 1 – The four most discriminating subtests enable you to quickly determine whether or not there is a language disorder in one-third less time.

Level 2 – Determine the nature of the disorder and the student’s strengths and weaknesses with two additional subtests to obtain Receptive Language, Expressive Language, Language Structure, Language Content, Language Memory, and Working Memory Index scores.

Level 3 – Decide what clinical skill deficits underlie the disorder with subtests such as Phonological Awareness, Rapid Automatic Naming, Number Repetition, Familiar Sequences, Word Associations, and Working Memory composite.

Level 4 – Explore how the student’s classroom language performance and social interactions are affected. Use the Pragmatics Profile and the Observational Rating Scale to continue your assessment.

CELF-4 Subtest Chart

Elisabeth H. Wiig, Ph.D., is Professor Emerita, Boston University and President of Knowledge Research Institute, an independent research and consulting firm. She holds ASHA-CCC in Speech-Pathology and Audiology; is a Fellow of ASHA; and the recipient of the ASHA Foundation 2001 Frank R. Kleffner Career Award. She is author/co-author of language tests (e.g., CELF-4, CELF-4 Screening Test , CELF-Preschool ) and texts and has published more than 80 articles in professional journals. Her recent research of RAN screening for parietal-lobe dysfunction led to the development and publication of the Alzheimer Quick Test: Assessment of Parietal Dysfunction (Wiig, Nielsen, Minthon, & Warkentin, 2002). In 2005 Dr. Wiig was awarded the ASHA Honors of the Association Award -- ASHA's most prestigious honor.

Wayne A. Secord, Ph.D., is Senior Research Scientist at the Ohio State University. An ASHA Fellow, he has authored or co-authored numerous articles, books, tests and intervention programs on assessment and treatment of speech and language disorders. Dr. Secord served as the editor of Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools from 1992 to 1998. A native of western New York, Dr. Secord is a frequent conference presenter and a nationally recognized expert on clinical and educational assessment and the delivery of school-based services.

Eleanor Semel, Ed.D., is Professor Emerita at Boston University and is nationally recognized for her pioneering work in the field of learning disabilities.She is the co-author of widely used standardized tests such as the CELF-4, CELF-4 Screening Test and CELF-Preschool. Additional undertakings include co-authoring language and learning disabilities textbooks, numerous journal articles, as well as many intervention programs such as: The Clinical Language Intervention Programs including CLIP Syntax, Morphology, Semantic,Pragmatic Worksheets and the Clinical Language Intervention Program-Preschool.Her recent endeavor includes consultant work at Salk Institute-Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience where she explored Williams Syndrome, a rare geneticdisorder with a distinct language and behavioral profile. This in-depth researchled to the publication of "Understanding Williams Syndrome: Behavioral Patterns and Intervention" (Semel and Rosner, 2003).

CELF-4 Scoring Assistant

Score CELF-4 accurately and quickly with new software that calculates the Core Language Score, norm-referenced indexes, criterion-referenced cut scores, and summarizes the authentic assessments.

CELF®-4 Scoring and Report Assistant

Score CELF®-4 accurately and quickly with new software

• The CELF-4 Scoring and Report Assistant provides interpretive reports and customizable clinical tools to streamline the assessment process and help develop effective IEPs.
• Create the following reports with the click of a mouse: Parent, Interpretive, Summary, and Graphical. You can also create a customized list of therapy activities, classroom interventions, and recommendations, as well as a detailed history for each student.

View a
CELF-4 Scoring Assistant Sample Report (PDF -91kb)

Alternative Item Analysis for Word Classes 1 and 2

Performance in the below-average range on the Word Classes subtest indicates that the student does not associate related words automatically or efficiently. Adequate ability to perceive relationships in the meaning of words and form word associations is essential for classroom listening and reading comprehension. Deficits in recognizing and using word associations influence a student’s ability to make predictions, create meaning, make inferences, and use analogical reasoning for problem solving.

Examining subtest errors and categorizing them according to type will assist in extension testing, as well as in development of intervention strategies. Use of multiple categorizations can be helpful in examining a student’s nonverbal classification strategy. For example, when assessing a student who can identify that words are opposites but cannot explain the difference in the pair further, a therapist may need to examine the conceptual breakdown of the items (e.g., permanent and temporary are antonyms; both refer to temporal states).

The CELF–4 Examiner’s Manual provides Item Analyses for Word Classes 1 and 2, as well as a discussion of the function of Item Analyses, on pages 58–65. Alternative Item Analyses for the CELF–4 Word Classes items are provided below.

Alternative Item Analysis:

• Word Classes 1
• Word Classes 2

View a list of commonly asked questions regarding the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals® - Fourth Edition (CELF® - 4) products.

Provides in-depth training on each level of the CELF-4 assessment process. CELF-4 Training CD provides a comprehensive review of the Examiner's Manual, record forms, stimulus books, and new subtests. Includes:

• Interactive presentation
• Case studies
• Training handouts
• Frequently asked questions
• Scoring Assistant software demonstration
• Additional printable resources

CELF-4 Case Studies (PDF - 1544 KB)

Correlations Between the CELF–4 and WISC–4 Integrated (PDF - 39kb)

CELF-4 Technical Report (PDF - 339kb)