Question: What is the Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning?
Answer: The Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning is a early childhood developmental screener for children 3 to 6 years and 11 months and the exam is timed for 20 - 30 minutes.

The DIAL-3 provides scores for Motor, Concepts, Language, totals an overall composite, and indicates behavioral observation cutoffs. It also provides standardized scores for Self-Help and Social Development, assessed by a Parent Questionnaire.

• Motor Area: Gross Motor items include catching, jumping, hopping, and skipping. Fine Motor items include building with blocks, cutting, copying shapesitems include catching, jumping, hopping, and skipping. Fine Motor items include building with blocks, cutting, copying shapes and letters, and writing, and the popular finger-touching task from the DIAL-R.
• Concepts Area: Items include pointing to named body parts, naming or identifying colors, rote counting, counting blocks, placing a block in named positions relative to a little house, identifying concepts in a triad of pictures, and sorting shapes. The DIAL-3 includes an item that assesses automatic naming of colors. This skill has been shown to be associated with potential learning disabilities.
• Language Area: Items include answering simple personal questions (name, age, sex), articulation, naming (expressive) or identifying (receptive) objects and actions, plus phonemic awareness tasks such as rhyming and I Spy.
• Self-Help Development: Looks at the child’s development of personal care skills related to dressing, eating, and grooming.
• Social Development: Looks at the child’s development of social skills with other children and parents, including rule compliance, sharing, self-control, and empathy.