Psychometric properties of the reading comprehension test ECOMPLEC.Sec

Area of Science:

• Educational Psychology
• Psychometrics

Background:

• ECOMPLEC.Sec is a reading comprehension test for secondary students, aligned with large-scale assessments like PISA and PIRLS.
• It was developed from a multidimensional perspective to evaluate reading abilities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To validate the theoretical model of the ECOMPLEC.Sec reading comprehension test.
• To confirm the bifactor model's fit, postulating a general reading comprehension factor and three specific factors.

Main Methods:

• Confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess construct validity in 1,912 adolescents (aged 13-18).
• Reliability was determined using non-linear structural equation modeling (SEM) for scale and subscale score interpretability.

Main Results:

• The bifactor model demonstrated a significantly better fit compared to the second-order model.
• Construct validity analysis supported the existence of specific reading comprehension factors.
• Reliability studies confirmed the suitability of using a total score for measuring reading comprehension.

Conclusions:

• ECOMPLEC.Sec possesses a valid and parsimonious factor structure.
• The test's metric properties indicate it is a suitable instrument for assessing reading comprehension in secondary students.