Development and validation of the test of spelling competence (TCORT) in incoming university students.

Abstract

This study aims to present a test to assess spelling competence (TCORT) in incoming Spanish university students and to obtain va-lidity evidence to support its use. The starting point was a bank of 73 items covering the most relevant spelling areas of the Spanish lan-guage, and the 37 most representative items were selected from the information provided by six experts. Afterwards, a pilot study of the TCORT was carried out with 602 students. The final version consisted of 31 items, with sufficient internal consistency (α= .90; ω= .89) and an invariant unidimensional struc-ture between sexes. It also correlated signifi-cantly with other variables, such as previous performance (r = .37, p <.01), verbal reason-ing (r = .27, p <.01) and spelling, measured with another tool not adapted to the target population (r = .45, p <.01). Validity evidence based on the test content, internal structure and relations to other variables supported the use of the test to assess spelling competences in incoming university students. The useful-ness of TCORT in providing relevant data to facilitate the creation of university policies aimed at promoting spelling competence train-ing in university students is discussed.