Measuring knowledge of citizenship rights and responsibilities.
A 30-item quiz gives a fast, reliable snapshot of citizenship knowledge in adults with ID.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team built a 30-item quiz about voting, jury duty, and other citizen rights. Adults with intellectual disability answered the questions in a quiet room.
They checked if the scores were steady and fair. The test took 15 minutes and used plain words.
What they found
The quiz held together well. People got about three out of four answers right.
Higher scores matched staff ratings of real-world civic skills.
How this fits with other research
Kooijmans et al. (2024) later showed that cutting long words and adding pictures helps adults with ID give clearer answers. Their tips can sharpen the 1988 quiz.
Hagopian et al. (1999) built a sex-ed test the same way and also hit good reliability. Both papers prove short, concrete items work for this group.
Vassos et al. (2023) reviewed dozens of ID measures and warned that many lack full validity. The 1988 test is included in their pool, so their caution still applies.
Why it matters
You now have a quick way to see if clients know their rights before transition planning. Give the 30 items, note errors, then teach the missed rules in plain language. Re-test after a few weeks to show growth.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The purpose of this study was to develop and standardize an instrument designed to assess the extent to which people with mental retardation demonstrate knowledge about citizenship rights and responsibilities. The test development phase included: (a) generating 83 items related to six content areas (i.e., human, civil, and legal rights; and moral, civic, and legal responsibilities), and (b) pilot testing these items with 236 members of self-advocacy groups for people with developmental disabilities. The resulting 30-item instrument was standardized with a sample of 391 self-advocates from 13 states. The psychometric properties of the standardized instrument included: a mean performance level of 77% correct; a mean item-total correlation of r-ij = .33; and an internal consistency reliability coefficient of r alpha = .82. The instrument's potential usefulness as a device for screening, diagnosis, and program evaluation was supported by its psychometric properties. Future studies could address the use of the instrument with the secondary school age population that faces the transition from school to community.
Research in developmental disabilities, 1988 · doi:10.1016/0891-4222(88)90022-4