Testing Math or Testing Language? The Construct Validity of the KeyMath-Revised for Children With Intellectual...

Area of Science:

• Educational Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Special Education

Background:

• Mathematics ability is often assumed to be the sole predictor of mathematics test performance.
• The linguistic demands of assessments may also influence achievement, particularly for students with intellectual disability (ID).

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the role of language in mathematics assessment performance.
• To examine the discriminant validity of the KeyMath-Revised Inventory (KM-R) with language measures in children with less severe ID.

Main Methods:

• Confirmatory factor analysis was used to compare models of KM-R and language abilities.
• The study included 264 children in grades 2-5 with less severe intellectual disability.
• The KeyMath-Revised Inventory (KM-R) was administered to assess mathematics skills.

Main Results:

• The KM-R did not demonstrate discriminant validity with measures of language abilities.
• Results suggest the KM-R is a multidimensional test assessing both mathematics and language abilities.
• This finding was consistent for children with less severe intellectual disability.

Conclusions:

• The KeyMath-Revised Inventory (KM-R) assesses both mathematical and linguistic abilities in children with intellectual disability.
• Implications for test development, interpretation, and intervention strategies are discussed.
• Future research should consider the dual nature of mathematics assessments for this population.