Co-Principal Investigator: Durán, Lillian

Purpose: The purpose of this project is to expand the Individual Growth and Development Indicators (IGDI) suite of psychometrically robust measures for Spanish-speaking dual language learners (DLLs) by developing and validating measures for 3-year-olds. In order to support educators in making databased decisions that will lead to improvements in student outcomes, these measures will be designed to be sensitive to the practical demands of conducting assessment in community early education settings by maximizing utility and feasibility through easy to use, quick, efficient and responsive interfaces.

Project Activities: Researchers will develop and vertically scale the IGDI Español screening measures for 3-year-old students and simultaneously develop and test a digital assessment platform for use with all IGDI Español measures (including the existing suite of tools for 4- and 5-year-olds). This suite of tools is known as the IGDI-Automated Performance Evaluation of Language and Early Literacy – Español (IGDI-APEL Español). Researchers will also carry out a cost analysis of the implementation of the full suite of tools.

Products: This project will produce the IGDI Español screening measures for 3-year-old students and a digital assessment platform. Findings from the research will be disseminated via conference presentations and peer-reviewed publications.

Structured Abstract

Setting: Students from the Pacific northwest (Oregon and California), Puerto Rico, and the midwest (Minnesota) will be recruited to ensure a diverse sample of dialects and regional representation.

Sample: This project includes 3-year-olds, typically DLLs who speak Spanish and English. These children will participate in item development, calibration, and validation studies.

Assessment: This project will develop Individual Growth and Development Indicators (IGDIs-Español) for 3-year-olds and incorporate those new measures in the related iPad application platform used for assessment, called the IGDI-Automated Performance Evaluation for Early Language and Literacy- Español (IGDI-APEL Español). The IGDI measures are brief, easyto-use tools designed as general outcome measures to assess domain-general skills in an identified construct, here noted as Spanish language and early literacy. The measures will be designed to take 1 to 3 minutes to administer and function as screening tools to appropriately identify 3-year-olds who may benefit from early intervention to improve their language and early literacy performance in Spanish.

Research Design and Methods: Researchers will design, calibrate, and scale IGDIs-Español for 3-year-olds using Kane's validity argument framework, Wilson's measure design methodology, Rasch modeling, and other strong psychometric methods to limit bias and construct-irrelevant features during the design and validation process. They will follow an iterative process as they design items.

Key Measures: Measure development will focus on IGDIs-Español item development and item level statistics including Rasch difficulty, standard error of measurement, infit, outfit, p-value and point biserial correlations. Additional criterion measures include the Bilingual Assessment of Phonological Sensitivity, the Spanish-English Language Assessment, and the Expressive One Word Picture Vocabulary Test.

Data Analysis: They will use Rasch modeling to calibrate items, differential item functioning via the Rasch-Welch statistic to evaluate bias in the item content, confirmatory factor analysis to confirm unitary construct representation, Pearson's r to correlate IGDIs-Español scores with criterion measures, Receiver Operator Curve analyses to examine sensitivity and specificity, and contrasting groups design analyses to set cut scores.

Cost Analysis: When the full IGDI-APEL- Español suite is completed, the researchers will analyze all costs related to implementing the assessment. This analysis will produce the net cost of implementation including costs related to app purchase, training materials, facilities and personnel.

Related Projects: Research and Development of Spanish Individual Growth and Development Indicators (S-IGDIs): Early Literacy Identification Measures for Spanish-English Bilingual Children (R305A120449); Individual Growth and Development Indicators: Automated Applications for Performance Evaluation of Early Literary (IGDI-APEL) (R305A140065); Expanding Early Language and Literacy Spanish Individual Growth and Development Indicators to Monitor Progress: PM-S-IGDIs (R305A160077)