Validation of an Instrument on Standard-based Mathematical Competencies in Primary School

The present article reports findings from a study (n=687 5th graders) that was carried out to investigate the psychometric characteristics of a standard-based mathematics test. The instrument contains two different versions and was developed to provide primary schools with information on how their students perform with respect to educational standards in mathematics at the end of grade 4. Psychometric analyses revealed that both versions of the instrument were sufficiently reliable (Version 1: KR - 20=.86, Version 2: KR - 20=.80). Correlation analyses with final marks in mathematics (Version 1: r=-.648; Version 2: r =-.623; both ps<.001), psychometric intelligence (Version 1: r=.592; Version 2: r=.615; both ps<.001), and grammar school attended after primary school education (point-biserial correlation, Version 1; r=.529; Version 2: r=.545, both ps<.001) underline the high validity of the instrument. Educational implications for standard-based assessments in individual schools are discussed.