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Reliability and validity of the Math Essential Skill Screener—Elementary Version (MESS‐E)
Author(s) -
Erford Bradley T.,
Bagley Donna L.,
Hopper James A.,
Lee Ramona M.,
Panagopulos Kathleen A.,
Preller Denise B.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
psychology in the schools
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.738
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 1520-6807
pISSN - 0033-3085
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1520-6807(199804)35:2<127::aid-pits4>3.0.co;2-m
Subject(s) - psychology , goodness of fit , confirmatory factor analysis , concurrent validity , exploratory factor analysis , lisrel , predictive power , statistics , construct validity , test (biology) , item analysis , reliability (semiconductor) , psychometrics , predictive validity , test validity , clinical psychology , mathematics , internal consistency , structural equation modeling , power (physics) , paleontology , philosophy , physics , epistemology , quantum mechanics , biology
The Math Essential Skill Screener–Elementary Version (MESS‐E) is a screener devised to identify primary grade students at risk for math difficulties. Item analysis, interitem consistency, test–retest reliability, decision efficiency, and construct validity of the MESS‐E were studied using four independent samples of boys and girls grades 1–3 (aged 6–8). Item analysis revealed median item difficulty of .64 and median item discrimination of .75. Interitem consistency was .92 ( n = 171) and .94 ( n = 711), while 30‐day test–retest reliability was .86 ( n = 125). Exploratory factor analysis indicated a one‐factor solution accounting for 37% of observed variance. LISREL 7 confirmatory factor analysis procedures determined that the one‐factor model fit the standardization sample data poorly (goodness‐of‐fit index = .729, χ 2 to df ratio = 9.91). The MESS‐E yielded concurrent validity coefficients ( n = 171) of .74 with the Woodcock–Johnson: Tests of Achievement–Revised (WJ‐R) Math Cluster, .80 with the Wide‐Range Achievement Test–Revised (WRAT‐R) Arithmetic subtest and .73 with the KeyMath‐R Operations Area standard scores. A diagnostic efficiency study yielded a total predictive value (TPV) of .93, sensitivity = .98, specificity = .88, positive predictive power (PPP) = .89, negative predictive power (NPP) = .98, and incremental validity = 39%. The MESS‐E displayed a slight tendency to overidentify children potentially at risk for math difficulties. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.