Statistical equating with measures of oral reading fluency.

Area of Science:

• Educational measurement
• Psychometrics
• Reading fluency assessment

Background:

• Current curriculum-based measurement of oral reading fluency faces challenges due to dissimilar reading passages.
• These passage disparities hinder accurate monitoring of student progress.
• Existing passage development procedures require refinement to ensure comparability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and describe statistical equating as a method for creating equivalent scores.
• To address the problem of non-parallel reading passages in oral reading fluency assessments.
• To provide a viable option for improving the reliability of progress monitoring.

Main Methods:

• Examination of psychometric and design properties of words-correct scores.
• Discussion of the requirements for traditional equating methods.
• Application of simulated and empirical words-correct scores to demonstrate the equating process.

Main Results:

• Statistical equating offers a statistically sound approach to equating scores across non-parallel passages.
• The study details the procedural steps involved in the equating process.
• Analysis identifies specific situations where different equating methods are most suitable.

Conclusions:

• Statistical equating is a valuable technique for ensuring score comparability in oral reading fluency measures.
• This method enhances the utility of curriculum-based measurement for tracking student reading development.
• The findings support the use of equating to overcome limitations in reading passage design.