Abstract
This paper provides theoretical and practical considerations necessary to construct useful language proficiency instruments by focussing on critical psychometric properties. Particular emphasis is placed on steps and criteria for evaluating individual items measuring specific linguistic skills and on the analysis of tests used to measure the language proficiency of individual students. By applying the Rasch latent trait model, it is shown how parallel measures may be built along a common language proficiency trait in both English and Spanish across three language-categorized populations: English-proficient, limited-English proficient, and Spanish-proficient. These issues are referenced to the New York City Language Assessment Battery (LAB).
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.