Constructing a Russian-Language Version of the International Early Reading Assessment Tool

Abstract

Successful adaptation of first-graders to school largely determines their subsequent educational attainment. In Russia as well as across the globe, there are few high-quality standardized assessment instruments providing comprehensive vision of what children know and what they can do when they start school. Large-scale evaluation of reading literacy is particularly challenging due to age-specific characteristics and the assessment format. This article outlines a step-by-step procedure of localizing a part of an international instrument iPIPS designed to measure early reading skills at the start of school and the progress made during the first school year, within the framework of Russian educational paradigm. Localization is understood as transformation of an instrument originally developed in another language (English in this case) so that it accounts for the cultural and linguistic characteristics of the target audience. The procedure included development of a Russian-language version of iPIPS and a series of studies to verify its construct validity. The process involved analyzing the linguistic characteristics of the original tasks, finding equivalent linguistic means in the Russian language, and designing Russian-language tasks identical to the original ones in terms of functionality. To verify construct validity of the localized instrument, we evaluated the psychometric properties of the scale, tested its reliability, and studied compliance of the task structure and hierarchy with the theoretical framework. The findings have revealed that large-scale local or regional tests administered using this localized assessment instrument may yield valuable data which can be further used for analysis of the current situation and informed decision-making in educational policy.