The Ortiz Picture Vocabulary Acquisition Test™ (Ortiz PVAT™) is a norm-referenced, individually administered assessment of receptive vocabulary acquisition (i.e., comprehension of English spoken words) developed for both monolingual native English speakers and English learners with culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. The assessment of verbal ability, as indicated or inferred by vocabulary acquisition, is a critical component of psychological, academic, speech-language, or neuropsychological evaluation, especially with regard to learning. Measuring vocabulary acquisition is relatively straightforward for native English speakers, but some obstacles are introduced when evaluating English learners. Up until now, existing models and tests of verbal development and language ability have lacked validity in solving these obstacles, resulting in a dearth of suitable assessments for this purpose.
The Ortiz PVAT was created specifically to overcome some of these obstacles and serve as a valid, fair, and reliable test of receptive vocabulary acquisition that is applicable to all English speakers and English learners. Design considerations to achieve this goal included ecologically valid stimuli, alternate forms to facilitate repeat assessments, an entirely digital platform for administration, scoring, and reporting, and two normative samples to provide non-discriminatory true peer comparison groups for both development and diagnostic purposes. Within the English Learner normative sample, English exposure is a key factor incorporated into the calculation of scores. Not only is the Ortiz PVAT an innovative test of vocabulary acquisition for English speakers, it is also the first test that addresses one of the central questions with respect to the evaluation of diverse individuals, which is often referred to as “difference vs. disorder” (i.e., whether an English learner’s low performance on an English language test is due to an inherent language disorder or simply the normal process of learning another language). This chapter summarizes the key features of the Ortiz PVAT and delineates proper use and users of the test.