Rigorous technical documentation now available for the ELOM-R measures that reliably predict early academic success
DataDrive2030 has published a comprehensive suite of technical manuals for the ELOM-R (v1) assessment tools, following a year of detailed development work. The documentation provides in-depth technical specifications for the measures designed to evaluate whether Grade R learners are academically prepared for Grade 1.
Proven Predictive Power
The ELOM-R tools assess language and mathematics skills critical for school readiness. Building on the established ELOM 4&5 Years Assessment, these successor measures offer validated assessments for the Grade R year, the Reception year in South Africa.
Recent longitudinal research (set for publication by DataDrive2030 before year-end) has confirmed the predictive validity of both assessments. Children’s performance on the ELOM-R Language and Mathematics tools reliably forecasts their later achievement on standardised Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) and Early Grade Mathematics Assessment (EGMA) measures.
Technical Excellence, Practical Application
The newly released documentation comprises three technical manuals:
Technical Manual 1: Development of the ELOM-R Language and Mathematics Assessments details the rigorous development process, including cross-language translation procedures, establishment of measurement invariance, and pilot study findings used to refine assessment items.Technical Manual 2: Language Assessment and Technical Manual 3: Mathematics Assessment each present comprehensive psychometric analyses demonstrating scalereliability, measurement equivalence, and absence of bias across eight South African languages.
Both assessment manuals include established norms and performance standards for children to be On Track for Grade 1. A standalone Synopsis of the Standardisation and Norms document is available for quick reference. All technical documentation is available on the DataDrive2030 website.
Multiple Applications
The ELOM-R tools are designed for group administration and generate results showing the percentage of learners in a Grade R setting who are academically ready for Grade 1. There are two tools which can be used independently but are most effective when used together. The ELOM-R Mathematics (v1) Assessment Tool focuses on performance in early mathematics, while the ELOM-R Language (v1) Assessment Tool focuses on early language skills. Applications include:
- Informing Grade R programme improvements
- Optimising educational resource allocation
- Comparing intervention effectiveness
- Guiding system-level policy decisions
- Enabling population-level outcome monitoring
While technically sophisticated, the manuals have been structured to balance rigour with accessibility for education researchers, practitioners, and policymakers.
For further information, please refer to this document which summarises the intended use of the ELOM-R tools, their composition, and the outcomes of the psychometric analysis, standardisation, and norming process.
