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Evidence Related to the Validity of the English Language Proficiency Test ELPT

Author(s):
Bridgeman, Brent; Harvey, Anne
Publication Year:
1999
Report Number:
RR-99-07
Source:
ETS Research Report
Document Type:
Report
Page Count:
24
Subject/Key Words:
English Language Proficiency Test (ELPT), Construct Validity, Language Proficiency, English (Second Language), High School Students, College Students, Listening Tests, Reading Proficiency

Abstract

The validity of the English Language Proficiency Test was evaluated by considering six aspects of construct validity identified by Messick: content, substantive, structural, generalizability, external, and consequential. Analyses evaluated both the internal structure of the test and the relationship of the scores to external criteria. In one set of analyses, high school and college language teachers were asked to evaluate their students using the same five proficiency categories that are used in the test, and the teacher ratings were then compared to the test scores. Correlations were averaged over 15 classes in the college sample and over 32 classes in the high school sample. In the college sample, the averaged correlations, corrected for range restriction, where.50 and.57 for reading and listening respectively. In the high school sample the corresponding correlations were.68 and.71. For both the reading and listening proficiency scales, teachers tended to rate their students about one category higher.

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