How do our childrens DECA scores compare to other sites using the DECA Program and the national standardization sample?
: In order to develop a high quality assessment tool that could be used with children from across the nation, the DECA was nationally standardized, using a sample of 2,000 children who closely represented the United States population on in important demographic characteristics. In examining the data from those 2,000 children, it was determined that the cumulative frequency distributions for the scales that were derived through factor analysis all approached normality but were slightly positively skewed. For this reason, we decided to compute scores using normalization procedures. T-scores for each scale were set at a mean of 50 and a standardization of 10. Using this procedure, 68% of the scores on Initiative, Self-control and Attachment were less than 10 T-score points above or below the mean (this range is classified as the Typical range). 16% of the scores on each scale were either more than 10 T-score points above the mean (this range is classified as the Strength range) or more th
