extended · article · 2020

Examining Rater Performance on the CELBAN Speaking: A Many-Facets Rasch Measurement Analysis

Peiyu Wang; Karen Coetzee; Andrea Strachan; Sandra Monteiro; Liying Cheng; George Engelhard Jr.

Internationally educated nurses’ (IENs) English language proficiency is critical to professional licensure as communication is a key competency for safe practice. The Canadian English Language Benchmark Assessment for Nurses (CELBAN) is Canada’s only Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) referenced examination used in the context of healthcare regulation. This high-stakes assessment claims proof of proficiency for IENs seeking licensure in Canada and a measure of public safety for nursing regulators. Understanding the quality of rater performance when examination results are used for high-stakes decisions is crucial to maintaining speaking test quality as it involves judgement, and thus requires strong reliability evidence (Koizumi et al., 2017). This study examined rater performance on the CELBAN Speaking component using a Many-Facets Rasch Measurement (MFRM). Specifically, this study iden...