Measurement of early literacy skills among monolingual English-speaking and Spanish-speaking language-minority children: A differential item functioning analysis

"This study examined if a norm-referenced assessment of early literacy skills, the Test of Preschool Early Literacy (TOPEL), can provide valid and reliable estimates of the English early literacy skills of Spanish-speaking preschoolers. A large sample of preschoolers (751 Spanish-speaking and 470 English-speaking) completed three TOPEL subtests. Results from both groups were compared using a differential item functioning (DIF) analysis. No DIF was seen in two of the subtests. Some DIF was seen in the Definitional Vocabulary subtest, but results were inconclusive. The researchers concluded the TOPEL can be used reliably with Spanish-speaking preschoolers."