Background: In England, there are concerns about boys' under-achievement in reading, and girls consistently do better than boys in national reading tests taken by 11-year-olds. At the same time, there have been accusations of bias in the content of the reading tests. Purpose: This article looks at the performance of boys and girls on the 2008…

The study examined whether item bias is present in the "Preschool Language Scale-4" (PLS-4). Participants were 440 children (3-5 years old; 86% English-speaking Hispanic and 14% European American) who were enrolled in Head Start programs. The PLS-4 items were analyzed for differential item functioning (DIF) using logistic regression and…

This article describes the results of a simulation study to investigate the impact of missing data on the detection of differential item functioning (DIF). Specifically, it investigates how four methods for dealing with missing data (listwise deletion, zero imputation, two-way imputation, response function imputation) interact with two methods of…

This study examined the effect of linguistic modification on middle school students' ability to show what they know and can do on math assessments. REL West's study on middle school math assessment accommodations found that simplifying the language--or linguistic modification--on standardized math test items made it easier for English Language…

Previous methodological and applied studies that used binary logistic regression (LR) for detection of differential item functioning (DIF) in dichotomously scored items either did not report an effect size or did not employ several useful measures of DIF magnitude derived from the LR model. Equations are provided for these effect size indices.…

In addition to validity and reliability evidence, other psychometric qualities of the PE Metrics assessments needed to be examined. This article describes how those critical psychometric issues were addressed during the PE Metrics assessment bank construction. Specifically, issues included (a) number of items or assessments needed, (b) training…

To ensure fairness, it is important to better understand the relationship of language proficiency to standard psychometric analysis procedures. This paper examines how results of differential item functioning (DIF) analysis are affected by an increase in the proportion of examinees who report that English is not their first language in the…

Comparisons of human characteristics across different language groups and cultures become more important in today's educational assessment practices as evidenced by the increasing interest in international comparative studies. Within this context, the fairness of the results across different language and cultural groups draws the attention of…

This study introduces an approach for modeling multidimensional response data with construct-relevant group and domain factors. The item level parameter estimation process is extended to incorporate the refined effects of test dimension and group factors. Differences in item performances over groups are evaluated, distinguishing two levels of…

Data from college admissions tests can provide a valuable measure of student achievement, but the non-representativeness of test-takers is an important concern. We examine selectivity bias in both state-level and school-level SAT and ACT averages. The degree of selectivity may differ importantly across and within schools, and across and within…

A large literature emphasizes the importance of testing for measurement equivalence in scales that may be used as observed variables in structural equation modeling applications. When the same construct is measured across more than one developmental period, as in a longitudinal study, it can be especially critical to establish measurement…

We surveyed 506 Australian high school students on career development (exploration, planning, job-knowledge, decision-making, indecision), personal functioning (well-being, self-esteem, life satisfaction, school satisfaction) and control variables (parent education, school achievement), and tested differences among work-bound, college-bound and…

Most empirical tests of mediation utilize cross-sectional data despite the fact that mediation consists of causal processes that unfold over time. The authors considered the possibility that longitudinal mediation might occur under either of two different models of change: (a) an autoregressive model or (b) a random effects model. For both models,…

The central idea of differential item functioning (DIF) is to examine differences between two groups at the item level while controlling for overall proficiency. This approach is useful for examining hypotheses at a finer-grain level than are permitted by a total test score. The methodology proposed in this paper is also aimed at estimating…

Many statistics used in the assessment of differential item functioning (DIF) in polytomous items yield a single item-level index of measurement invariance that collapses information across all response options of the polytomous item. Utilizing a single item-level index of DIF can, however, be misleading if the magnitude or direction of the DIF…