The use of the Infant Index/Baseline‐PLUS as a baseline assessment measure of literacy

Abstract

The Infant Index was initially developed as a baseline assessment instrument for children at school entry, with literacy as a key component. A later version, Baseline-PLUS, was developed to meet the accreditation criteria of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority. The paper reports the results of a study of 5915 children, which comprised the 1996±97 cohort for one local education authority. The results indicate that the instrument is reliable (Cronbach's alpha 0.92), that girls are rated as more advanced than boys in literacy and other domains, and that there are significant differences with respect to both children's ethnic status and home language. Results for pre-school experience are also reported, but these are confounded by the LEA's policy of provision. The implications for the use of the Infant Index/Baseline-PLUS and for the national scheme are explored.

An Evaluation of the Use of Accredited Baseline Assessment Schemes in England

“…The present project was not designed to include a detailed analysis of the 91 accredited baseline assessment schemes. However, the issue is important and the lack of published data on the technical qualities of schemes has been criticised in the past (Lindsay, 1998;Lindsay & Desforges, 1999). It is clear from our research that schools make use of the data from baseline assessment on the assumption that they are reliable and valid.…”

“…First, the age of starting school has an impact on baseline assessment results (e.g. Lindsay & Desforges, 1999;Tymms, 1999). While some LEAs admit children at termly intervals (e.g.…”

“…This system is supportive of local choice but poses difficulties for evaluating comparability either between children at the time of baseline assessment, or with respect to value added to the end of Key Stage 1. Also, there has been relatively little research into the technical qualities of schemes, with a small number of notable exceptions, so limiting the degree of informed choice available to LEAs and schools (Lindsay, 1998;Lindsay & Desforges, 1999).…”

Phoneme manipulation not onset‐rime manipulation ability is a unique predictor of early reading

“…In the Reading sub-section, for example, a low score of 1 is obtained if a child chooses to pick up books and 'works through them in the appropriate sequence', a score of 2 is achieved if letters within words can be identified correctly, whereas a high score of 3 is obtained if they can 'read from a simple scheme book or simple story book'. The test has acceptable reliability (Cronbach's alpha ¼ .92, Lindsay & Desforges, 1999).…”

Predicting curriculum and test performance at age 7 years from pupil background, baseline skills and phonological awareness at age 5

“…Some evidence nevertheless exists on formal psychometric properties of some baseline tests. For example, one widely used test, the Infant Index (Desforges & Lindsay, 1995) has recently been analysed and found to have satisfactory construct validity and internal reliability (Lindsay & Desforges, 1999). There have also been a number of attempts to measure the predictive validity of some baseline measures.…”