Barbara L. Rodríguez

Rasch analysis of a Spanish language-screening parent survey

The purpose of this study was to evaluate and refine items from a parent survey designed to screen the language skills of Spanish-speaking preschoolers. This investigation applied Rasch modeling to systematically evaluate and identify items that demonstrated favorable qualities. A set of 124 parent survey items was administered to 107 Spanish-speaking parents of preschool age children. Parents completed survey items intended to provide a global measure of preschool language abilities. Rasch analyses of the survey items were conducted using WINSTEPS. Results indicated that 59 items, all vocabulary items, fit the Rasch model. Sufficient unidimensionality was obtained, with the model accounting for 58% of the variance. Item difficulty estimates ranged from -7.43 to 4.12, with a shortage of items at both the lower ability level and at the higher ability level. Analyses of pruned and remaining items identified the type of items that may be most useful for a refined item bank. These results will inform the development of new items for a Spanish language-screening parent survey for preschool age children.

False Belief Understanding in Language Impaired and Typically Developing Spanish-Speaking Preschoolers from Lower Income Backgrounds

Research Findings: The present study describes developmental trends in false belief (in other and self) in 46 Mexican-dialect Spanish-speaking children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds with and without language impairment (LI). Results indicate that typically developing childrens performance on false belief tasks improves with age, with very few 3-year-old children, half of the 4-year-old children, and most 5-year-olds demonstrating false belief understanding. Results also reveal that children acquire false belief in other in advance of false belief in self. Although there were no group differences between 3- and 4-year-old typically developing and LI children, there were significant differences in false belief performance between the 5-year-old typically developing and LI children. Practice or Policy: Implications for screening and enhanced false belief teaching strategies are presented.

Analysis of Bilingual Children’s Performance on the English and Spanish Versions of the Woodcock-Muñoz Language Survey-R (WMLS-R)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the way in which items on the Woodcock-Muñoz Language Survey Revised (WMLS-R) Spanish and English versions function for bilingual children from different ethnic subgroups who speak different dialects of Spanish. Using data from a sample of 324 bilingual Hispanic families and their children living on the United States mainland, differential item functioning (DIF) was conducted to determine if test items in English and Spanish functioned differently for Mexican, Cuban, and Puerto Rican bilingual children. Data on child and parent language characteristics and children’s scores on Picture Vocabulary and Story Recall subtests in English and Spanish were collected. DIF was not detected for items on the Spanish subtests. Results revealed that some items on English subtests displayed statistically and practically significant DIF. The findings indicate that there are differences in the difficulty level of WMLS-R English-form test items depending on the examinees’ ethnic subgroup membership. This outcome suggests that test developers need to be mindful of potential differences in performance based on ethnic subgroup and dialect when developing standardized language assessments that may be administered to bilingual students.