Analyzing the Measurement Equivalence of a Translated Test in a Statewide Assessment Program

When tests are translated into one or more languages, the question of the equivalence of items across language forms arises. This equivalence can be assessed at the scale level by means of a multiple group confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in the context of structural equation modeling. This study...

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Main Authors: Jorge Carvajal-Espinoza, Greg Welch
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universidad Nacional, Costa Rica 2016-09-01
Series:Revista Electrónica Educare
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Online Access:http://www.revistas.una.ac.cr/index.php/EDUCARE/article/view/8585
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author Jorge Carvajal-Espinoza
Greg Welch
author_facet Jorge Carvajal-Espinoza
Greg Welch
author_sort Jorge Carvajal-Espinoza
collection DOAJ
description When tests are translated into one or more languages, the question of the equivalence of items across language forms arises. This equivalence can be assessed at the scale level by means of a multiple group confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in the context of structural equation modeling. This study examined the measurement equivalence of a Spanish translated version of a statewide Mathematics test originally constructed in English by using a multi-group CFA approach. The study used samples of native speakers of the target language of the translation taking the test in both the source and target language, specifically Hispanics taking the test in English and Spanish. Test items were grouped in twelve facet-representative parcels. The parceling was accomplished by grouping items that corresponded to similar content and computing an average for each parcel. Four models were fitted to examine the equivalence of the test across groups. The multi-group CFA fixed factor loadings across groups and results supported the equivalence of the two language versions (English and Spanish) of the test. The statistical techniques implemented in this study can also be used to address the performance on a test based on dichotomous or dichotomized variables such as gender, socioeconomic status, geographic location and other variables of interest.
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spelling doaj-art-56169b18fc11418c87d1ba8afbf6443b2025-08-20T01:57:20ZengUniversidad Nacional, Costa RicaRevista Electrónica Educare1409-42582016-09-0120311810.15359/ree.20-3.98206Analyzing the Measurement Equivalence of a Translated Test in a Statewide Assessment ProgramJorge Carvajal-Espinoza0Greg Welch1Universidad de Costa RicaUniversity of NebraskaWhen tests are translated into one or more languages, the question of the equivalence of items across language forms arises. This equivalence can be assessed at the scale level by means of a multiple group confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in the context of structural equation modeling. This study examined the measurement equivalence of a Spanish translated version of a statewide Mathematics test originally constructed in English by using a multi-group CFA approach. The study used samples of native speakers of the target language of the translation taking the test in both the source and target language, specifically Hispanics taking the test in English and Spanish. Test items were grouped in twelve facet-representative parcels. The parceling was accomplished by grouping items that corresponded to similar content and computing an average for each parcel. Four models were fitted to examine the equivalence of the test across groups. The multi-group CFA fixed factor loadings across groups and results supported the equivalence of the two language versions (English and Spanish) of the test. The statistical techniques implemented in this study can also be used to address the performance on a test based on dichotomous or dichotomized variables such as gender, socioeconomic status, geographic location and other variables of interest.http://www.revistas.una.ac.cr/index.php/EDUCARE/article/view/8585Measurement equivalencestructural equation modelingconfirmatory factor analysis
spellingShingle Jorge Carvajal-Espinoza
Greg Welch
Analyzing the Measurement Equivalence of a Translated Test in a Statewide Assessment Program
Revista Electrónica Educare
Measurement equivalence
structural equation modeling
confirmatory factor analysis
title Analyzing the Measurement Equivalence of a Translated Test in a Statewide Assessment Program
title_full Analyzing the Measurement Equivalence of a Translated Test in a Statewide Assessment Program
title_fullStr Analyzing the Measurement Equivalence of a Translated Test in a Statewide Assessment Program
title_full_unstemmed Analyzing the Measurement Equivalence of a Translated Test in a Statewide Assessment Program
title_short Analyzing the Measurement Equivalence of a Translated Test in a Statewide Assessment Program
title_sort analyzing the measurement equivalence of a translated test in a statewide assessment program
topic Measurement equivalence
structural equation modeling
confirmatory factor analysis
url http://www.revistas.una.ac.cr/index.php/EDUCARE/article/view/8585
work_keys_str_mv AT jorgecarvajalespinoza analyzingthemeasurementequivalenceofatranslatedtestinastatewideassessmentprogram
AT gregwelch analyzingthemeasurementequivalenceofatranslatedtestinastatewideassessmentprogram