Scoring Program

Announcing the 2023 Version of the CDI Scoring program! (Virginia Marchman © 2023) This version has been updated to include the new norms for the American English long (Words & Gestures and Words & Sentences) forms, as well as the short forms (Level I, IIA, IIB, and CDI III). Users are strongly recommended to consult the User's Guide and Technical Manual, 3rd Edition, for more information!
The scoring program will run on any MS Windows operating system with these Office programs installed, Access, Word, Excel. (Sorry, no Mac version is available.)
The program is suitable for use by any researcher or clinician who is a regular user of the MacArthur-Bates CDIs (English and/or Spanish), either the short or long forms.

New! Announcing two new versions of the scoring program for use with Canadian and European French (Marchman & Friend, 2015)! Please contact Maggie Friend for more information!

Program Features:

  • It's easy to use! It is easy to hand-enter data into the program using an user-friendly system. Entering the data for a complete CDI takes less time than hand counting!!! Data can be input at the category (e.g., Animal Sounds) or item level.

    Everything that you need to know (hopefully) about how to use the CDI Scoring program is contained in a handy User's Guide, but please contact Virginia Marchman if you have any questions.

    Database Instructions

    The program is FREE, but please do NOT distribute it without permission. Potential users of the program are asked to provide their Name, Email Address and Institution for record keeping purposes, and so that we can notify you of potential updates. For questions or more information, contact Virginia Marchman

  • Scores the English (MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory: Words & Gestures, Words & Sentences) and Spanish (Inventario del Desarrollo de Habilidades Comunicativas: Palabras y Gestos, Palabras y Enunciados) forms. This version also scores the short forms, including Level I (8-16 months), IIA and B (16-30 months), and the Level III (appropriate for children 30-37 months of age).

    Automatically calculates percentiles for key variables (based on the 2023 norms for English) which are included in reports to parents or for in-house use. The program also calculates "composite" scores which merge responses from both the English and Spanish CDIs (Pearson & Fernandez, 1994; Pearson, et al, 1993). A file listing these matches is available for download by clicking on the following link:

    English/Spanish Concept Matches

    Establishes a database of participants which tracks demographic or medical history, CDI data, other administrations (user-defined "Other Admins") and group identifications (user-defined "Selection tags").

    Generates Child Reports and Parent Letters that summarize responses in a user-friendly format. Child report and letter templates to fit a variety of specific situations are currently available in English and Spanish. Templates can be modified to meet your own needs and can be tailored for several sub-populations (e.g., a set for normal language participants, a set for children with SLI).

    See Samples

    Generates "Selected Variable" summaries of data, selecting participants by any criterion and outputting any variable from the CDI and/or user-defined "other administrations" or "selection tags". These can be output into a table (Access) or spreadsheet (Excel) format. Spreadsheets can be imported to statistical packages as needed.

If you are ready to download the program, just put in your information and submit the form!