Developing short forms of the EARLI numeracy measures: Comparison of item selection methods

Currently, few measures are available to monitor young children's progress in acquiring key early academic skills. In response to this need, the authors have begun developing measures (i.e., the Early Arithmetic, Reading and Learning Indicators, or EARLI) of preschoolers' numeracy skills. To accurately and efficiently monitor acquisition of early skills, users require multiple short forms that are appropriate in difficulty level for young children at different points in time. In the current study, the authors used three item selection methods to create multiple short forms for two EARLI numeracy measures. The authors then compared these item selection methods on projected internal consistency and concurrent validity estimates for the resulting forms. The short forms selected by these methods did not differ significantly on either criterion and appeared to be sufficiently sensitive to measure initial and acquisition of numeracy skills over time by preschool children enrolled in Head Start.