The Development of the Spanish Version of the Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning-Third Edition (DIAL-3)

Abstract

The procedure for developing the Spanish version of the Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning-Third Edition (DIAL-3) is described. The procedure involved both content development and psychometric investigations. Content development entailed translation and adaptation of testing materials, taking into account the differences in the phonological, semantic, and syntactic characteristics between the English and Spanish languages as well as the different cultural experiences and expectations that influence children's development. Psychometric investigations involved establishment of construct and measurement unit equivalency. Separate monolingual groups were used to collect data for linking the two language versions onto a common scale. Tasks/items with the same content and similar psychometric characteristics were used as common tasks/items for equating. The samples included 605 Spanish-speaking children and 1,560 English-speaking children. Raw score equating based on equal ability estimates was used to link scores on the two language versions and place them onto the same measurement scale. A single set of norms was developed. Analyses of differential task functioning and reliabilities were carried out to examine the equivalency between the two versions. Results showed that the common tasks/items behaved similarly in both samples and the reliabilities were quite comparable across the two language versions.