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Differentials of a State Reading Assessment: Item Functioning, Distractor Functioning, and Omission Frequency for Disability Categories
Author(s) -
Kato Kentaro,
Moen Ross E.,
Thurlow Martha L.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
educational measurement: issues and practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.158
H-Index - 52
eISSN - 1745-3992
pISSN - 0731-1745
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-3992.2009.00145.x
Subject(s) - differential item functioning , psychology , multinomial logistic regression , reading (process) , test (biology) , reading disability , differential (mechanical device) , developmental psychology , logistic regression , learning disability , cognitive psychology , clinical psychology , audiology , item response theory , psychometrics , dyslexia , statistics , linguistics , medicine , mathematics , paleontology , philosophy , aerospace engineering , engineering , biology
Large data sets from a state reading assessment for third and fifth graders were analyzed to examine differential item functioning (DIF), differential distractor functioning (DDF), and differential omission frequency (DOF) between students with particular categories of disabilities (speech/language impairments, learning disabilities, and emotional behavior disorders) and students without disabilities. Multinomial logistic regression was employed to compare response characteristic curves (RCCs) of individual test items. Although no evidence for serious test bias was found for the state assessment examined in this study, the results indicated that students in different disability categories showed different patterns of DIF, DDF, and DOF, and that the use of RCCs helps clarify the implications of DIF and DDF.