Scaling the Woodcock Mastery Reading Tests-Revised (WRMT-R) for primary school students in Hong Kong

The purpose of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the WRMT-R with primary school students in Hong Kong, and the extent to which WRMT-R could be validly used to measure the reading level of primary students in Hong Kong. There remains a widely recognized need to determine the English language proficiency and ongoing language development of Hong Kong students. The biggest challenge, however, is the scarcity of appropriately standardized assessment instruments for use by teachers in schools. While some assessment tools exist, many are teacher developed and most do not meet psychometric standards for reliability and validity (Bond and Fox, 2007). The lack of availability of standardized English language tests to local language teachers stands in stark contrast to that in other developed countries such as the U.S.A., Australia and the UK. An appropriate sample of 500 students from kindergartens and primary schools were tested in four subtests of the WRMT-R. The Rasch model was used to assess the psychometric qualities of the tests and the appropriateness of the instrument for valid use in Hong Kong. The study found that the WRMT-R was valid for use with local primary students in charting their English language reading skills at Key Stage I. With training, teachers can administer the WRMT-R subtests in between 10 to 30 minutes to identify strength and weaknesses of primary students in letter identification, word identification, reading vocabulary, and passage comprehension, and thus facilitate evidence-based remedial support.