Comparison of two tests of visual-motor development used to assess children with learning disabilities

Summary.-To examine the validity and sensitivity of the Test of Visual-motor Skills and the Developmental Test of Visual-motor Integration, 38 students with learning disabilities were administered each test twice over a 6-rno. period. Correlations between age-equivalents, percentile ranks, and z-scores ranged from .58 to .71, supporting the construct validity of the Test of Visual-motor Skills. However, mean scores on the Developmental Test of Visual-motor Integration were significantly higher with all three methods of reporting test results and do not support concurrent validity. Subjects made a significantly greater mean change in age-equivalent score on the Test of Visual-motor Skills, suggesting that this score is preferable for measuring change in children receiving remedial programs for visual-motor dysfunction. Professionals who provide services in the public schools frequently assess visual-motor development for the purposes of (1) detection of dysfunction, (2) determination of the need for remediation, (3) program planning, and (4) assessment of progress in response to intervention. Identification of children with visual-motor dysfunction and documentation of the efficacy of intervention requires a reliable and valid assessment that is sensitive to the change made by children receiving a remediation program. Two tests used to measure visual-motor development are the revised Developmental Test of Visual-motor Integration by Keith Beery (1982) and the more recently constructed Test of Visual-motor SkiUs by Morrison Gardner (1986). Beery (1982) presents evidence of construct and concurrent validity of the Developmental Test of Visual-motor Integration based on correlation of test scores with age, academic skill, and the Bender Visualmotor Gestalt Test. More recent studies support cross-cultural validlty (Webb & Abe, 1984; Webb, 1985) and construct validity (Breen, Carlson, & Lehman, 1985; Aylward & Schmidt, 1986; Wesson & Kispert, 1986). Gardner (1986) reports content validity for the Test of Visual-motor Skills with respect to measuring the psychological process under consideration and concurrent validity by age level with the Bender Visual-motor Gestalt Test (rs = .48 to .77) and the Developmental Test of Visual-motor Integration (rs = .25 to .76). The purpose of this study was to address the construct validity, concur