PPVT-III Alternate Forms Reliability and Stability Among Inner-City Primary School Students

The present investigation assessed the alternate forms reliability/stability of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test - Third Edition using a sample of 140 children, who attended inner-city public schools, and who were either exclusively English speaking (n = 97) or Bilingual (n = 43). The test-retest interval was approximately seven months. When compared to the standardization sample, alternate forms reliability/stability coefficients were significantly smaller for both groups. Nonetheless, coefficients were of considerable magnitude for the English speaking and Bilingual participants (r = .72 and .83, respectively). Reliable retest increases occurred in 9.3% (9/97) of the English only group and in 9.3% (4/43) of Bilingual participants. Reliable decreases occurred in 2.1% (2/97) and 7.0% (3/43), respectively, of the English only and Bilingual groups.