Variables for PLS Data Entry & Datasets
Administration
There are three ways of administering the PLS-5:
- English
- Spanish (only)
- Dual Language administration – Spanish administration (basal to ceiling), followed by questions the child did not answer correctly in Spanish being administered in English until a ceiling is reached in English
Data Entry
There are four ways to enter PLS scores to the EIS website. English, Spanish only, and two options for dual language administrations.
The Language variable codes are below:
- E – English scores only. The PLS-5 is administered in English only.
- SRSO – Spanish scores only. The PLS-5 is administered in Spanish only.
- SDL – Spanish Dual Language administration. The PLS-5 is administered in the dual language, and the site opts to enter only the dual language administration score to the EIS website.
- SDLR – Spanish Dual Language administration plus Spanish scores. The PLS-5 is administered in dual language, and the site opts to enter both the dual language administration and Spanish scores to the EIS website.
How PLS-5 Data Appears in Datasets
MySQL Database (Raw data download)
In the MySQL database (raw data download from EIS website), there are two sets of variables:
- The main set of variables
- Variables ending in Sp – for Spanish
Below is the breakdown of which variables the PLS-5 data is sorted into, depending on which of the four Language variable codes were used when entering the data to the EIS website.
| English only (E) | Main variables (ACraw, ACstdscr, ECraw, etc.) | |
| Spanish Dual language (SDL) | Main variables (ACraw, ACstdscr, ECraw, etc.) | |
| Spanish dual language & Spanish scores (SDLR) | Main variables (ACraw, ACstdscr, ECraw, etc.) | Spanish variables (ACrawSp, ACstdscrSp, ECrawSp, etc.) |
| Spanish only (SRSO) | Spanish variables (ACrawSp, ACstdscrSp, ECrawSp, etc.) |
In the raw data download file, there are two language variables that can be used – 1) the Language variable, described in the Data Entry section above and 2) a LanguageGroup variable, which has values of E and S for English and Spanish. Together, these two variables are used to tell in which language(s) the PLS-5 was administered.
It is important to decide which of these two variables to use for data analysis, depending on the analysis you are doing.
Child Assess Analysis Dataset
In the Child Assess analysis dataset (childassess_###), there are three sets of variables:
- English – plsEng
- Spanish – plsSp
- Dual language – plsDual
Below is the breakdown of which variables the PLS-5 data is sorted into, depending on which of the four Language variable codes were used when entering the data to the EIS website.
| English only (E) | English variables (plsEng_ACraw, plsEng_ECraw, etc.) | ||
| Spanish Dual language (SDL) | Dual variables (plsDual_ACraw, plsDual_ECraw, etc.) | ||
| Spanish dual language & Spanish scores (SLDR) | Spanish variables (plsSp_ACraw, plsSp_ECraw, etc.) | Dual variables (plsDual_ACraw, plsDual_ECraw, etc.) | |
| Spanish only (SRSO) | Spanish variables (plsSp_ACraw, plsSp_ECraw, etc.) |
Remember, SDLR is the Language variable where two sets of scores are captured (Dual language and Spanish scores). Statisticians using the analysis dataset may need to decide, for SDLRs, whether they want to look at Dual scores, Spanish scores, or both.
Child Assessment Reports
When the Child Assessment reports are prepared, three sets of variables are used:
- English – plsEng
- Dual Language – plsSp
- “Spanish only” – plsSpRaw
- * Even though these variables are called “SpRaw”, they are standard scores as you can see in the variable names in the table below (ending in stdscr).
Below is the breakdown of which variables the PLS-5 data is sorted into for the reports, depending on which of the four Language variable codes were used when entering the data to the EIS website.
| English only (E) | English variables (plsEngACstdscr, plsEngECstdscr, etc.) | ||
| Spanish Dual language (SDL) | Dual variables (plsSpACstdscr, plsSpECstdscr, etc.) | ||
| Spanish Dual language & Spanish scores (SDLR) | * Spanish variables (plsSpRawACstdscr, plsSpRawECstdscr, etc.) | Dual variables (plsSpACstdscr, plsSpECstdscr, etc.) | |
| Spanish only (SRSO) | * Spanish variables (plsSpRawACstdscr, plsSpRawECstdscr, etc.) |
For the annual child assessment report, each of the three variables are reported separately so all the data is reported. In other words, for data entered as SDLR, their dual language scores and their Spanish scores are included in the child assessment report.