Contextual Interference Effects in Early Assessment: Evaluating the Psychometric Benefits of Item Interleaving

Anthony D Albano,Scott R Mcconnell,Liuhan Cai,Erin M Lease

doi:10.3389/feduc.2020.00133

Abstract

Research has shown that the context of practice tasks can have a significant impact on learning, with long-term retention and transfer improving when tasks of different types are mixed by interleaving (abcabcabc) compared with grouping together in blocks (aaabbbccc). This study examines the influence of context via interleaving from a psychometric perspective, using educational assessments designed for early childhood. An alphabet knowledge measure consisting of four types of tasks (finding, orienting, selecting, and naming letters) was administered in two forms, one with items blocked by task, and the other with items interleaved and rotating from one task to the next by item. The interleaving of tasks, and thereby the varying of item context, had a negligible impact on mean performance, but led to stronger internal consistency reliability as well as improved item discrimination. Implications for test design and student engagement in educational measurement are discussed.

Highlights

Assessment in early educational settings is becoming increasingly common as researchers and practitioners work to ensure children are prepared for entry into kindergarten and transition into early primary grades
We extend the literature on classroom assessment development in a novel and practical way, by approaching the issue of item context in terms of contextual interference effects induced via interleaving
The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of context, via blocked and interleaved arrangements of tasks, on the psychometric properties of an early educational assessment

Summary

Introduction

Assessment in early educational settings is becoming increasingly common as researchers and practitioners work to ensure children are prepared for entry into kindergarten and transition into early primary grades. Intervention systems typically rely on assessment to screen and monitor children’s progress in key outcomes, such as early literacy (e.g., McConnell and Greenwood, 2013), with the goal of providing targeted instructional support to children who are most in need (Greenwood et al, 2011; McConnell, 2018). As assessment practices expand in scope and utility in early education programs, they can both leverage and contribute to innovations in measurement. We respond to the call for collaboration on classroom assessment issues with an investigation of psychometric questions confronted when transitioning a set of early

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