Equivalence Testing of a Youth Risk and Needs Assessment

Abstract

Truancy can have a detrimental impact on student outcomes. Risk assessments are used to identify behavioral and emotional problems associated with school truancy. Although imperative for informing decisions about student’s welfare, risk assessments generally lack substantial validity evidence. Specifically, supporting score interpretation across cultural groups through measurement invariance (MI) is needed for such assessments. This study examined MI, specifically factor invariance (FI), of the Washington Assessment of the Risks and Needs of Students (WARNS) across African American, Latinx, and Caucasian students using confirmatory factor analysis with traditional FI criteria and the equivalence testing (ET) procedure. Results from traditional criteria suggested that the factor structure is similar across groups. The ET procedure demonstrated minor model misspecifications.

Applicability and Efficiency of a Computerized Adaptive Test for the Washington Assessment of the Risks and Needs of Students

“…Once students complete the assessment, scores are used by the school personnel, student service providers, or court system to inform conversations about the risks and needs of the student and a course of action for the student. The WARNS has support for its bifactor structure (Strand et al, 2019), item and test-level invariance across groups (Alpizar et al, 2020; French & Vo, 2020), and reliability of scores (Gotch & French, 2020), with a focus on the general score for decisions.…”

Assessment of the Risks and Needs of Middle School Students: Invariance Properties Related to Gender and Ethnicity

“…The factor structure has been supported, showing that a general risk and needs factor score may be best for making decisions about students, with sufficient internal consistency reliability (e.g., >.90; Strand et al, 2019). The WARNS structure and items do appear to function similarly for boys and girls and across African American, White American, and Hispanic student samples (Alpizar et al, 2020; French & Vo, 2020). WARNS scores are related to social and academic outcomes, whereby students with elevated scores are more likely to be arrested or suspended compared with their lower risk counterparts (George et al, 2015; Iverson et al, 2018).…”