Developmental

Profile 3
Gerald Alpern, PhD
Purposes of the DP-3
 Evaluate a child’s development in five key areas:
- Physical
- Adaptive Behavior
- Social–Emotional
- Cognitive
- Communication
 Gain valuable parent input about the child’s functioning.
 Quickly screen children from birth through age 12 years,
11 months.
 Provide intervention recommendations for each skill
measured by the DP-3.

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A Multidimensional Screening Tool
 Useful for many purposes, including:
- Screening for developmental problems
- Responding to parental or teacher concerns
- Determining areas of strength and weakness
- Contributing to determination of eligibility for special
education or other services (the five scales meet
IDEA guidelines for assessing development delay)
- Helping plan IEPs
- Measuring progress over time

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DP-3 Improvements
 Norm-referenced standard scores based on a
nationally representative sample
 Updated item content and scale names
 Extended age range
 Expanded interpretation guidelines
 Availability of the Parent/Caregiver Checklist

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The DP-3 Measures Five Domains
 Physical
- Large- and small-muscle coordination, strength, stamina,
flexibility, and sequential motor skills
 Adaptive Behavior
- Ability to cope independently: eat, dress, work, use
technology, and take care of self and others
 Social–Emotional
- Interpersonal functioning, social and emotional understanding,
and ability to relate to friends, relatives, and adults

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The DP-3 Measures Five Domains (continued)
 Cognitive
- Intellectual abilities and skills necessary for academic
achievement

 Communication
- Expressive and receptive communication skills, including
written, spoken, and gestural language
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Administration of the DP-3 can include one, a few, or all five scales.
If all five scales are used, the General Development score can be
calculated as an index of overall development.

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Administration is Easy
 Takes 20–40 minutes
 For each item, the respondent indicates whether or not
the child has mastered the skill in question by
answering “yes” or “no”.
 Two parallel formats: the Interview Form and the
Parent/Caregiver Checklist
- The same content but the wording is changed to fit the
respondent.
- The Interview Form is a one-on-one clinician administered
interview of the parent/caregiver and is the preferred method
of administration.
- The Parent/Caregiver Checklist does not require the clinician
to be present and is useful when time or resources are limited.

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Comparing the Two Formats
 Sample Interview Items
- P16. Does the child stack
(make a tower of) eight
objects such as blocks?
- S26. Does the child consider
the preferences and interests
of friends when planning
shared play activities?
- G5. Does the child imitate a
physical gesture made by an
adult, such as pointing?
 Sample Checklist Items
- P16. Does your child make a
tower of eight things, such as
blocks?
- S26. Does your child
consider what friends want to
do when planning activities
with friends?
- G5. Does your child imitate
something an adult does,
such as pointing?
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Scoring the DP-3
 Hand and computer scoring available
 Hand scoring is quick.
- Add up the total number of “yes” responses for each scale and
convert the raw scores to standard scores using tables in the
manual.
 Computer scoring provides:
- Score calculation and description
- Graphical representation of scores
- Scale Pattern Analysis and Scale-by-Scale Item Analysis
- Individualized intervention activities
- Clinician and Parent reports
- A sample computer report can be found at:
www.wpspublish.com/pdf/dp3.pdf

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Types of DP-3 Scores
 The DP-3 provides many types of scores and
interpretation:
- Norm-referenced standard scores (recommended
for all DP-3 uses)
- Confidence intervals
- Descriptive categories
- Percentile ranks
- Age equivalents
- Stanines

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Strong Psychometric Characteristics
 Standardized on 2,216 children ages birth through
12 years, 11 months
 Relevant demographic characteristics (gender,
ethnicity, region, and parent education level)
closely match the U.S. Census.
 Reliability:
- Median internal consistency: .89 to .97
- Test–retest reliability: .81 to .92

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Strong Psychometric
Characteristics (continued)
 Validity highlights:
- DP-3 scores correlated at expected levels with:
Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, Second Edition
(Vineland-II; Sparrow, Cicchetti, & Balla, 2005)
Developmental Assessment of Young Children
(DAYC; Voress & Maddox, 1998)
Peabody Developmental Motor Scales, Second Edition
(PDMS-2; Folio & Fewell, 2000)
Preschool Language Scale, Fourth Edition
(PLS-4; Zimmerman, Steiner, & Pond, 2005)
- The DP-3 differentiates between typically developing
children and those with a clinical problem.

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Support for Intervention
 Results linked to intervention activities
 Suggestions for parents, teachers, or clinicians to help
children in areas of difficulty
 Focus on maintaining the child’s self-concept while teaching
new skills
 Example:
- P16. Encourage continued skill with stacking objects:
Once the child has mastered the skill of stacking three objects, it will
generally increase to include additional objects. While he or she is
playing happily, bring over some blocks and make a tower of at least
one or two additional objects, encouraging the child to copy what you
are doing. You can turn it into a game wherein you alternate copying
one another.

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For more information contact:
WPS
www.wpspublish.com
800.648.8857