Arizona Articulation Proficiency Scale-Third Edition (Arizona-3)

The Arizona Articulation Proficiency Scale, Third Edition (Arizona-3) provides speech-language pathologists and education professionals with all the features for which the test has long been recognized, as well as new features that increase the range, power, and usefulness of the test.

It is for use with children and adults but is most sensitive to developmental changes in preschool and early elementary school levels. The test still uses a simple picture-presentation format that offers complete administration to most children in less than 3 minutes. Scoring involves the easy-to-understand "Total Score" that expresses the child's successful speech production on a scale from 1 to 100. The test covers all the major speech sounds in the English language, including initial and final consonants and blends, vowels, and dipthongs.

The revisions offer a number of improvements. The stimulus pictures have been updated, showing children in more current clothing styles and activities. The test materials also include more ethnic diversity. The instrument has been restandardized on a sample of over 5,500 individuals, representative of the U.S. population according to geographic region, ethnicity, and parents' education level. For the first time, gender-specific norms are provided for the early childhood years. Improvements were also made to the Test Booklet, to the text of the Manual, and to its tables and appendices, all of which were reorganized into easier-to-use and more informative formats.

Applications of this test include:
● a rapid and precise method for identifying misarticulations and total articulatory proficiency,
● identification and selection of children for speech therapy,
● determination of speech therapy progress,
● provision of a frame of reference for discussing speech development, therapyneeds, and progress,
● identification of children who need more indepth assessment of language and/or learning abilities,
● facilitation of significant research.

The test remains appropriate for ages 1-5 through 18-0 with testing time range of 2-10 minutes. Administrationby individual.

Complete Arizona-3 kit includes: Examiner's Manual, Picture Test Cards, and 25 Test Booklets, all in a sturdy storage box.