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Abstract
The purpose of the current study is to examine the psychometric quality of a frequently employed morphological awareness (MA) measure, the Test of Morphological Structure (TMS; Carlisle, 2000) as well as discuss the implications of altering a measure on research result. Ninety-six fourth grade students from a southeastern elementary school were administered the TMS, a phonological awareness measure, and a reading comprehension measure. The TMS using three item orders (i.e., original, theoretical based on the developmental progression discussed in prior research, and data-based yielded from Rasch analyses) and an applied discontinue rule was evaluated. Results from the current study suggest that the TMS regardless of item order has adequate psychometric properties, but the measures construction needs further investigation with a more diverse population. Additionally, results indicate that prior research (e.g., Carlisle & Nomanbhoy, 1993; Fracasso et al., 2014; Herman et al., 2013; Tighe & Binder, 2013) using the original item order with the applied discontinue rule may not provide as accurate a picture of an individuals MA ability as researchers believe.