Technical Manual - Renaissance Learning

ValidityTest validity is often described as the degree to which a test measures what it isintended to measure. Evidence of test validity is often indirect and incremental,consisting of a variety of data that in the aggregate are consistent with the theorythat the test measures the intended construct. STAR Early Literacy was designedto measure a wide range of skills that culminate in the ability to read in English. Afirst step in building the case for its validity has to do with the content of the testitems that make up its item bank, and are used in each individual test. Asdescribed in “Content and Item Development” on page 15, the original 2,929 STAREarly Literacy test items were designed explicitly to consist of indicators of sevenspecific literacy domains and 41 sets of subordinate skills that comprise them.Almost 2,400 of those items have been retained for use in STAR Early Literacy. Inevery administration of STAR Early Literacy, items measuring each of the sevenliteracy domains are used.The content of the item bank and the content balancing specifications that governthe administration of each test together form the basis for STAR Early Literacy’s“content validity.”This section deals with other evidence of STAR Early Literacy’s validity as anassessment of early literacy skills. All of the evidence presented here has to dowith the relationship of STAR Early Literacy scores to external variables that arerelated to the development of literacy skills. Some of the features that a validliteracy skills assessment should have are listed below.Scores on the assessment should:Increase directly with test-takers’ agesIncrease with grade in schoolCorrelate with scores on related assessments, such as:Other tests of readiness and early literacyEarly-grade reading testsTeachers’ ratings of students’ mastery of literacy skillsThis section consists of evidence, accumulated to date, of the relationships of STAREarly Literacy Enterprise scores to the kinds of external variables cited above.Relationship of STAR Early Literacy Scores to Age and School GradeThe fundamental literacy skills that STAR Early Literacy was designed to measureimprove as children mature and as they benefit from instruction. Consequently, ifSTAR Early LiteracyTechnical Manual55