The construction and evaluation of an instrument for measuring the listening ability of selected young children

Two comparable, reliable forms of a measure of listening ability for use with young children were constructed from items which had been pre-tested on 950 primary students. The two forms of the measure were evaluated by administering both forms to a selected group of 850 primary students which had not previously participated in the study. The two forms were given under like conditions and sufficiently comparable and reliable to be used as parallel forms of a measure of listening ability. Validity was built into the tests when the items were constructed. An attempt to objectively determine the validity by means of a rating scale was not successful. Listening, as measured in this study, correlated more highly with achievement scores than with the intelligence scores. In an effort to obtain objective data concerning the listening ability of young children, several comparisons were made of sub-groups of students participating in the study. There was a significant difference in the scores obtained by students in each grade level, no significant difference in male and female students' scores and a significant difference in the listening scores of Caucasian and Negro students. The results of this study indicate that the listening ability of young children can be measured reliably. [...]Education, College o