title: Determining the Internal Validity of the Inventory of Reading Occupations: An Assessment Tool of Children's Reading Participation.
abstract: The Inventory of Reading Occupations (IRO) is an assessment tool of children's reading participation. In this study, we used Rasch methods to determine the internal validity of the IRO. Participants included 192 typical and struggling readers from kindergarten to third grade from five different states in the United States. We analyzed the fit of each of the items in the 17 reading categories, the test items in the three dimensions of reading participation, and the contexts of reading in the IRO. Analysis indicated that the IRO items support the Rasch model of unidimensionality. Analysis also indicated that 1 of the 30 test items can be revised to strengthen test validity. Moreover, the analysis also suggested that the IRO is more useful for first- to third-grade students. This study provides evidence of internal validity of a useful tool to assess children's reading participation.
authors.affiliation: Lenin C. Grajo, PhD, EdM, OTR/L, is Assistant Professor, Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO; lgrajo@slu.edu.
authors.forename: Lenin C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Grajo
authors.affiliation: Catherine Candler, PhD, BCP, OTR, is Professor, Department of Occupational Therapy, Abilene Christian University, Abilene, TX.
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Candler
authors.affiliation: Patricia Bowyer, EdD, MS, OTR, FAOTA, is Professor and Associate Director, School of Occupational Therapy, Texas Woman's University, Houston.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bowyer
authors.affiliation: Sally Schultz, PhD, OT, LPC-S, is Professor Emerita, School of Occupational Therapy, Texas Woman's University, Dallas.
authors.forename: Sally
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schultz
authors.affiliation: Jennifer Thomson, PhD, is Senior Lecturer, Department of Human Communication Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, England.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Thomson
authors.affiliation: Karen Fong is Doctoral Student, Measurement, Evaluation, Statistics and Assessment Program, College of Education, University of Illinois at Chicago.
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fong