MedEdPublish (Dec 2018)
Comparison of the English and French versions of the CASPer® Test in a bilingual population
Abstract
Objective The University of Ottawa MD program has two different streams to which candidates may apply: a francophone stream and an anglophone stream. As the admissions office receives applications in both French and English, they are required to ensure that the tools used to assess candidates are psychometrically equivalent across both streams. CASPer is a standardized test they recently adopted to assess the non-cognitive competencies of applicants and is offered in both English and French. The objective of this study is to compare the psychometric properties of the English and French versions of CASPer. Methods We collected data from all CASPer test-takers across three cohorts (n = 12,463; entry 2016, entry 2017, entry 2018). We first compared the difficulty of the test between the French and English version using proxy indicators (i.e., time to completion, typing speed). We then compared the psychometric properties of the two versions based on their internal-consistency reliability and applicant acceptability. Results There were some indications that the French version may be slightly more difficult than the English version of the CASPer test. However, it is unclear whether this difficulty is due to the difficulty of the individual test items or to differences in the characteristics of the cohort. Nevertheless, a comparison of the psychometric indicators suggests that both French and English versions of CASPer are psychometrically sound and equivalent. Conclusion Although CASPer scores cannot be directly compared between the English and French versions, the psychometric properties of the assessment were retained across the two versions. These results provide preliminary evidence that the psychometric strengths of the English version of CASPer likely extend to the French version of the assessment.
