Dimensionality and Measurement Invariance of a School Readiness Assessment

• In Event: Saturday Roundtable Session 11:25 am
  In Roundtable Session: Early Childhood Education: Measures and Stakeholders (Table 26)

Abstract

This study explored the factorial structure of the North Carolina Early Learning Inventory (NC ELI), a newly revised kindergarten entry assessment (KEA) developed as a subset of items from Teaching Strategies GOLD®. Although GOLD® offers extensive validity and reliability evidence, this study contributes to the validity of a short-form version developed specifically for administration in NC. To examine the underlying structure of NC ELI, this study used exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis and established measurement invariance across focal comparisons. NC currently reports scores as a single factor of “school readiness”. However, findings from this study indicated a two-factor model offered significant improvement. Recommendations include changing reporting practices to a multidimensional model with two latent factors: Social-emotional skills and academic skills.

Authors

• T. Scott Holcomb, Wake County Public School System

• Kristin Villanueva, University of North Carolina - Charlotte

• Leonardo Herrera-Mosquera, University of North Carolina - Charlotte

• Hannah Luce, University of North Carolina - Charlotte

• Richard G. Lambert, University of North Carolina - Charlotte