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Rasch Measurement Applied to Young Children

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 October 2015

Beth Hands ,
Dawne Larkin  and
Barry Sheridan
Beth Hands*
Affiliation:
The University of Western Australia
Dawne Larkin
Affiliation:
The University of Western Australia
Barry Sheridan
Affiliation:
Edith Cowan University
*
Department of Human Movement, University of Western Australia, Nedlands WA 6907, Ph: (09) 380 2361, Fax: (09) 380 1039, E-mail: bhands@cygnus.uwa.edu.au
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Abstract

Most popular tests of motor proficiency have been developed using classical test theory. Recently, item response theory (IRT) has been used to address some of the difficulties inherent with these traditional psychometric approaches. This paper focuses on the application of IRT in the psychomotor domain where analyses involving both dichotomous (Cole, Wood, & Dunn, 1991; Werder & Bruininks, 1988) and polytomous criterion referenced measurements (Puderbaugh & Fisher, 1992) have met with equivocal results. The application of the method to quantitative data has to date proved challenging. An example reported here is based on outcome measures used in the development of a test of movement skills for children aged 5 and 6 years. The results appear very promising, but some caution is required in interpreting results.

Keywords

ChildrenGender DifferencesItem Response Theory (IRT)Motor CoordinationMotor TestingMovement SkillsPsychomotorRasch measurement
Type
Research Article
Information
The Educational and Developmental Psychologist , Volume 14 , Issue 1 , May 1997 , pp. 11 - 22
Copyright
Copyright © Australian Psychological Society 1997

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