Measuring what students entering school know and can do: PIPS Australia 2006

Abstract

THIS PAPER REPORTS ANALYSIS of 2006–2007 on-entry assessment data from the Performance Indicators in Primary Schools Baseline Assessment (PIPS-BLA) of random samples of students in England, Scotland, New Zealand and Australia. The analysis aimed, first, to investigate the validity and reliability of that instrument across countries and sexes; and, second, to investigate what students know and can do the year before they start formal schooling. Data was analysed using the Rasch measurement model and interactive software (RUMM2020). Results indicated that three scales, Reading, Vocabulary and Mathematics, represent (with the exception of very few items) single variables which have the same meaning across all four countries and both sexes. The three scales may also be combined and regarded as a single measure at a higher level of scale. Developmental trends for children starting school were similar for all four countries.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Andrich

(1988). Rasch models for measurement. London: Sage.

Andrich

(1989). Constructing fundamental measurement in social psychology. In Keats

J. A.

, Taft

, Heath

R. A.

& Lovibond

S. H.

(Eds). Proceedings of the XXIVth International Congress of Psychology, 4. Mathematics and Theoretical Systems (pp. 17–26). Amsterdam: Elsevier Science Publications.

Andrich

, & Hagquist

(2004). Is the Sense of Coherence Instrument applicable to adolescents? A latent trait analysis using Rasch modeling. Personality and Individual differences, 36(2), 955–968.

Andrich

, Sheridan

B. S.

, & Luo

(2005). RUMM2020: Rasch Unidimensional Models for Measurement. Perth: RUMM Laboratory.

Andrich

, & Styles

(1994). Psychometric evidence of intellectual growth spurts in early adolescence. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 14(3), 328–344.

Andrich

, & Styles

(2004). Report on the psychometric properties of the Early Development Inventory. Perth: Telethon Child Health Institute.

Arthur

, Beecher

, Dockett

, Farmer

, & Death

(2005). Programming planning in early childhood settings (3rd edn) Sydney: Harcourt Brace.

Deary

, Thorpe

, Starr

, & Whalley

(2003). Population sex differences in IQ at age 11: The Scottish Mental Survey 1932. Intelligence, 31(6), 533–542.

Hedges

, & Newell

(1995). Sex differences in mental test scores, variability and numbers of high-scoring individuals. Science, 269(5220), 41–45.

10.

Kagan

, & Moss

M. A.

(1962). Birth to maturity: A study in psychosocial development. New York: Wiley.

11.

La Paro

, & Pianta

(2000). Predicting children's competence in the early school years: A meta-analytic review. Review of Educational Research, 70(4), 443–484.

12.

Louden

, Rohl

, Barratt-Pugh

, Brown

, Cairney

, Elderfied

, House

, Meiers

, Rivalland

, & Rowe

(2005). In teachers' hands. Effective literacy teaching practices in the early years of schooling. Mt Lawley, WA: Edith Cowan University.

13.

Maccoby

(1974). The psychology of sex differences. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

14.

Merrell

& Tymms

(2007). What children know and what they can do when they start school and how this varies between countries. Journal of Early Childhood Research, 5(2), 115–134.

15.

Rasch

(1960/1980). Probablistic models for some intelligence and attainment tests. (Copenhagen, Danish Institute for Educational Research). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

16.

Rouse

, & Fantuzzo

(2006). Validity of the dynamic indicators for basic early literacy skills as an indicator of early literacy for urban kindergarten children. School Psychology Review, 35(3), 341–355.

17.

Tymms

(1999). Baseline assessment and monitoring in primary schools: Achievements, attitudes and value-added indicators. London: David Fulton.

18.

Tymms

, Merrell

, Henderson

, Albone

, & Jones

(2007). Links between children's starting points and finishing points in Primary School. Paper presented at the EARLI Conference Budapest, 30 August 2007.

19.

Tymms

, Merrell

, & Jones

(2004). Using baseline assessment data to make international comparisons. British Educational Research Journal, 30(5), 673–689.

20.

Wildy

(2003). Data club: Supporting schools to use data. Professional Educator, 2(3), 6–7.

21.

Wildy

(2004). The data club: Helping schools use accountability data. In Wilson

(Ed.), Towards coherence between classroom assessment and accountability (pp.155–168). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

22.

Wright

B. D.

(1999). Fundamental measurement for psychology. In Embretson

S.E.

& Herschberger

S.C.

(Eds), The new rules of measurement. NY: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Measuring what students entering school know and can do: PIPS Australia 2006–2007

Abstract

Get full access to this article

References