Two strategies for assessing item bias are discussed: methods comparing item difficulties unconditional on ability and methods comparing probabilities of response conditional on ability. Results suggest that the iterative logit method is an improvement on the noniterative one and is efficient in detecting biased and unbiased items. (Author/DWH)

The Mantel-Haenszel (MH) procedure attempts to identify and quantify differential item performance (item bias). This paper summarizes the MH statistics, and identifies the parameters they estimate. An equivalent procedure based on the Rasch model is described. The theoretical properties of the two approaches are compared and shown to require the…

Results from the 1979 Minnesota Computer Literacy Assessment show that eighth- and eleventh-grade females perform better than males in some specific areas of programing, i.e., those that involve problem analysis and algorithmic application where the problems are expressed verbally rather than mathematically. (Author/LRW)

Seventh-grade students were tested to uncover arithmetic errors. Answers and intermediate steps were analyzed and models to represent students' behavior were developed. Certain errors were common across students. Others were tied to the format of the test item. Some superficial understandings of mathematical concepts were exposed. (Author/DC)