Construction of a reading literacy test item bank for fourth graders based on item response theory
IntroductionReading literacy is not only central to students’ academic success during their school years but also crucial to their personal development in their later life. The development of assessment instruments for reading literacy has been of interest to researchers, educators and educational a...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-05-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1103853/full |
| _version_ | 1797821038286864384 |
|---|---|
| author | Qishan Chen Qishan Chen Haiyan Zheng Honglan Fan Honglan Fan Lei Mo Lei Mo |
| author_facet | Qishan Chen Qishan Chen Haiyan Zheng Honglan Fan Honglan Fan Lei Mo Lei Mo |
| author_sort | Qishan Chen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | IntroductionReading literacy is not only central to students’ academic success during their school years but also crucial to their personal development in their later life. The development of assessment instruments for reading literacy has been of interest to researchers, educators and educational administrators. The purpose of the present study was to construct and validate a comparable item bank for assessing fourth-grade students’ reading literacy.MethodsOne hundred fifteen reading comprehension items were developed and administered to 2,174 Grade 4 students to construct an item bank. Using the test equating technique and balanced incomplete block design, we divided participants into 10 subgroups, and the 115 items were further assigned into 10 test forms. Item response theory software was used to estimate discrimination, items’ threshold parameters, and students’ ability parameters. The criterion-related validity was also examined in 135 Grade 4 students who completed the reading literacy test and verbal self-description questionnaire.ResultsThe final item bank included 99 reading performance indicators to express high achievement. The correlation between the students’ reading literacy and the verbal self-description questionnaire was significant and demonstrated the item bank’s good criterion-related validity. The item bank developed in this study shows good psychometric characteristics and can be used to assess the reading literacy of fourth graders. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T09:46:52Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c4fa8712b3214693918508686dc55ac6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T09:46:52Z |
| publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-c4fa8712b3214693918508686dc55ac62023-05-25T04:13:24ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782023-05-011410.3389/fpsyg.2023.11038531103853Construction of a reading literacy test item bank for fourth graders based on item response theoryQishan Chen0Qishan Chen1Haiyan Zheng2Honglan Fan3Honglan Fan4Lei Mo5Lei Mo6Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, ChinaSchool of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, ChinaCollege of Teacher Education, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, ChinaPhilosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, ChinaSchool of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, ChinaPhilosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, ChinaSchool of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, ChinaIntroductionReading literacy is not only central to students’ academic success during their school years but also crucial to their personal development in their later life. The development of assessment instruments for reading literacy has been of interest to researchers, educators and educational administrators. The purpose of the present study was to construct and validate a comparable item bank for assessing fourth-grade students’ reading literacy.MethodsOne hundred fifteen reading comprehension items were developed and administered to 2,174 Grade 4 students to construct an item bank. Using the test equating technique and balanced incomplete block design, we divided participants into 10 subgroups, and the 115 items were further assigned into 10 test forms. Item response theory software was used to estimate discrimination, items’ threshold parameters, and students’ ability parameters. The criterion-related validity was also examined in 135 Grade 4 students who completed the reading literacy test and verbal self-description questionnaire.ResultsThe final item bank included 99 reading performance indicators to express high achievement. The correlation between the students’ reading literacy and the verbal self-description questionnaire was significant and demonstrated the item bank’s good criterion-related validity. The item bank developed in this study shows good psychometric characteristics and can be used to assess the reading literacy of fourth graders.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1103853/fullreading literacyitem bankitem response theoryfourth gradecriterion-related validity |
| spellingShingle | Qishan Chen Qishan Chen Haiyan Zheng Honglan Fan Honglan Fan Lei Mo Lei Mo Construction of a reading literacy test item bank for fourth graders based on item response theory Frontiers in Psychology reading literacy item bank item response theory fourth grade criterion-related validity |
| title | Construction of a reading literacy test item bank for fourth graders based on item response theory |
| title_full | Construction of a reading literacy test item bank for fourth graders based on item response theory |
| title_fullStr | Construction of a reading literacy test item bank for fourth graders based on item response theory |
| title_full_unstemmed | Construction of a reading literacy test item bank for fourth graders based on item response theory |
| title_short | Construction of a reading literacy test item bank for fourth graders based on item response theory |
| title_sort | construction of a reading literacy test item bank for fourth graders based on item response theory |
| topic | reading literacy item bank item response theory fourth grade criterion-related validity |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1103853/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT qishanchen constructionofareadingliteracytestitembankforfourthgradersbasedonitemresponsetheory AT qishanchen constructionofareadingliteracytestitembankforfourthgradersbasedonitemresponsetheory AT haiyanzheng constructionofareadingliteracytestitembankforfourthgradersbasedonitemresponsetheory AT honglanfan constructionofareadingliteracytestitembankforfourthgradersbasedonitemresponsetheory AT honglanfan constructionofareadingliteracytestitembankforfourthgradersbasedonitemresponsetheory AT leimo constructionofareadingliteracytestitembankforfourthgradersbasedonitemresponsetheory AT leimo constructionofareadingliteracytestitembankforfourthgradersbasedonitemresponsetheory |