Randomized experiments provide unbiased estimates of treatment effects, but are costly and time consuming. We demonstrate how a randomized experiment can be leveraged to measure selection bias by conducting a subsequent observational study that is identical in every way except that subjects choose their treatment--a quasi-doubly randomized…

In recent years, students' test scores have been used to evaluate teachers' performance. The assumption underlying this practice is that students' test performance reflects teachers' instruction. However, this assumption is generally not empirically tested. In this study, we examine the effect of teachers' instruction on test performance at the…

The research reported in this article investigates differential item functioning (DIF) in a listening comprehension test. The study explores the relationship between test-taker age and the items' language domains across multiple test forms. The data comprise test-taker responses (N = 2,861) to a total of 133 unique items, 46 items of which were…

As the US continues to diversify, methods for accurately assessing human behavior must evolve. This paper offers multicultural research considerations at several stages of the research process for psychological research and consultation. Implications regarding the comparative research framework are discussed and suggestions are offered on how to…

This study gathered quantitative and qualitative evidence concerning gender differences in performance by using critical reading material on the "SAT"® test with sports and science content. The fundamental research questions guiding the study were: If sports and science are to be included in a skills test, what kinds of material are…

The purpose of this study is to evaluate two methodological perspectives of test fairness using a national Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examinations. SSC is a suit of multi-subject national qualification tests at Grade 10 level in South Asian countries, such as Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. Because it is a high-stakes test, the fairness…

Purpose: To examine the cross-cultural applicability of the Communicative Participation Item Bank (CPIB) through a comparison of respondents with Parkinson's disease (PD) from the United States and New Zealand. Method: A total of 428 respondents--218 from the United States and 210 from New Zealand-completed the self-report CPIB and a series of…

In this study, we contrast results from two differential item functioning (DIF) approaches (manifest and latent class) by the number of items and sources of items identified as DIF using data from an international reading assessment. The latter approach yielded three latent classes, presenting evidence of heterogeneity in examinee response…

A goal for any linking or equating of two or more tests is that the linking function be invariant to the population used in conducting the linking or equating. Violations of population invariance in linking and equating jeopardize the fairness and validity of test scores, and pose particular problems for test-based accountability programs that…

Model specification issues on the cross-level two-way differential item functioning model were previously investigated by Patarapichayatham et al. (2009). Their study clarified that an incorrect model specification can easily lead to biased estimates of key parameters. The objective of this article is to provide further insights on the issue by…

In this article, we discuss and illustrate two centering and anchoring options available in differential item functioning (DIF) detection studies based on the hierarchical generalized linear and generalized linear mixed modeling frameworks. We compared and contrasted the assumptions of the two options, and examined the properties of their DIF…

In educational assessment, there is an increasing demand for tailoring assessments to individual examinees through computer adaptive tests (CAT). As such, it is particularly important to investigate the fairness of these adaptive testing processes, which require the investigation of differential item function (DIF) to yield information about item…

This article introduces longitudinal multistage testing (lMST), a special form of multistage testing (MST), as a method for adaptive testing in longitudinal large-scale studies. In lMST designs, test forms of different difficulty levels are used, whereas the values on a pretest determine the routing to these test forms. Since lMST allows for…

In organizational and educational practices, sensitivity reviews are commonly advocated techniques for reducing test bias and enhancing fairness. In the present paper, results from two studies are reported which investigate how effective individuals are at detecting problematic test content and the influence such content has on important testing…

Differential item functioning (DIF) analysis is an important step in the data analysis of large-scale testing programs. Nowadays, many such programs endorse matrix sampling designs to reduce the load on examinees, such as the balanced incomplete block (BIB) design. These designs pose challenges to the traditional DIF analysis methods. For example,…