Pr�sentation PowerPoint
Translation and Adaptation of AEPS-3 in French for Québec, Canada
Dionne Carmen, PhD., Lemire Colombe, PhD., Paquet Annie, PhD.
Context
The third edition of the Assessment, Evaluation, and Programming System for Infants and Children [AEPS®-3] (Bricker et al., 2021), a curriculum-based assessment and linked system, was published recently in the USA. Since 2006, the AEPS-2 has been accessible in French. Practitioners in Québec (Canada) and French-speaking European countries use this version (Nader Grosbois et al., 2010; Baurain et al., 2021). Thus, the process of translating and adapting the AEPS-3 for the French Canadian population is underway. Nevertheless, we can't assume that translation equivalence guarantees that an adapted test will maintain item and scale-level equivalence for psychometric properties such as reliability and validity (Beaton et al., 2000). For these reasons, piloting research activities are important to assure the appropriateness of the new version.
Objectives
- Objective 1. Present the translation and adaptation process used for the French edition of the AEPS-3.
- Objective 2. Describe the research realized with a French Canadian population (Québec) on fidelity, validity, and utility.
Results
For the translation process, forward and backward translations were used. A committee of experts (3) in early intervention revised all translated items and criteria. For the Social Communication Area, new items were developed in respect of the French language particularities. Multiple research activities were carried out in partnership with child care and rehabilitation centers to document utilization and psychometric properties. The Table 1 synthesizes six studies examining utility and psychometric properties. The main results are reported for each study, along with the AEPS-3 areas or components, the participants, and the research device used.
| Author | Area/component AEPS-3 | Research device & Participants | Results |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bergeron, 2017 | Fine Motor | 2 independent observers rate 20 children aged 3 to 6 years (n=13 typical dev, n=7 atypical dev.) from video recordings. Before rating, more than 80% agreement was obtained. | Substantial agreement for all children, k=0.74 p<0.05. Typical, k=0.68 < 0.001. Atypical, k=0.78 < 0.001. |
| Guilbert, 2019 | Gross Motor | 22 independent observers assess 7 children under 6 years of age from video recordings. | Gross motor: high levels of agreement, interclass coefficient (ICC) ranged from 0.648 to 0.905 (M=0.81; SD=0.07). Fine motor: high levels of agreement, ICC range from 0.659 to 0.934 (M=0.81; SD=0.08). |
| Lemire et al., 2015 | Literacy | 2 independent observers rate 32 children aged 5 to 6 years from video recordings. | Literacy: strong agreement, kf=0.87. Math: substantial agreement, kf=0.73. |
| Lemire et al., 2014 | Literacy | Three experts in the field being evaluated and in child development completed questionnaires about relevance, functionality, representativeness, hierarchical organization, observability, and measurability. | Relevance: strands considered relevant. Functionality: 92% positive responses. Representativeness of the strands: insufficient for 2 out of 3 experts. Hierarchical organization: flexible developmental sequence. Observability and measurability: mostly observable and measurable. Overall, the goals are considered functional, teachable and easy to understand. Criteria generally considered easy to understand. |
| Dubé, 2019 | Visual representation of the child's progress covering all areas of the test | Interviews with 8 early childhood educators. | Visual representation of the child progress - Perceived to be consistent with the educational program in place in childcare centers. Useful for planning interventions, identifying children's needs, targeting intervention content for children with special needs, and communicating with families about their child's needs. |
High levels of agreement for Literacy, Math, Fine Motor and Gross Motor areas were observed while lower levels for the Adaptive area. Regarding content validity, items were identified as relevant and functional. Results presented by Lemire et al. (2014) using a pilot version converge with the results of Macy et al. (2015). Researchers found that the developmental sequence needed more adjustments in the literacy area. Furthermore, the AEPS-3 facilitates interdisciplinary work and collaboration between parents and professionals.
Conclusion
Overall, the results with the French version of AEPS-3 support the results obtained with the original English version regarding the utility, validity and reliability of the tool. The results are encouraging, but more research is needed to establish strong psychometric properties of the French version.