This study aimed to establish the validity of the Language Development Rating Scale and the Attitudes toward Reading and Voluntary Reading Behaviour Rating Scale in Morrow's Checklist for Assessing Early Literacy Development for use with preschool children in Hong Kong. The sample comprised 2619 preschool children aged three-five years who were currently enrolled in preschool levels K1-K3 in Hong Kong. Analysis showed that the two scales had strong construct validity and internal consistency, and that both fit well to the Rasch model. Nevertheless, findings of the Rasch analysis suggested that the level of the Language Development Scale did not align well with the language proficiency of kindergarten children in the sample who were more proficient than the proficiency levels demanded by the items in the scale. The results suggested such further refinement such as the inclusion of more advanced items may be necessary for valid local applications.
[Copyright of Early Child Development and Care is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2011.536641]