NAEP Analysis and Scaling → Estimation of NAEP Score Scales → Treatment of Items to Avoid Violations of Assumptions → Results of NAEP Differential Item Functioning Analyses → Results of NAEP Differential Item Functioning (DIF) Analyses for the Reading Main Assessment in 2009

NAEP Technical DocumentationResults of NAEP Differential Item Functioning (DIF) Analyses for the Reading Main Assessment in 2009

For dichotomously scored items, NAEP categorizes each item into one of three categories: "A" (items exhibiting no DIF), "B" (items exhibiting a weak indication of DIF), or "C" (items exhibiting a strong indication of DIF). A plus sign (+) indicates that items are differentially easier for the focal group (female, Black, or Hispanic students) than for the reference group (male or White students) after making an adjustment for the overall level of proficiency in the two groups; a minus sign (-) indicates that items are differentially more difficult for the focal group than for the reference group. For polytomously scored items, NAEP categorizes items into "AA", "BB", or "CC" categories and the plus or minus sign has the same interpretation as it does for dichotomously scored items. After reviewing "C" and "CC" items, subject area specialists decided that no items were biased, so none were deleted from the scales for this reason.

Number of dichotomously scored items, reading combined national and state main assessment, by differential item functioning (DIF) category and grade: 2009

Grade	DIF category	Female-Male	Black-White	Hispanic-White
NOTE: Table includes all items in the assessment (the prescaling decisions). SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2009 Reading Assessment.
4	C-	1	0	0
	B-	4	5	4
	A	155	154	154
	B+	1	2	3
	C+	0	0	0
8	C-	4	1	5
	B-	15	15	14
	A	188	187	186
	B+	6	6	9
	C+	2	6	1
12	C-	7	3	3
	B-	24	12	9
	A	150	143	161
	B+	1	17	9
	C+	0	7	0

Number of polytomously scored items, reading combined national and state main assessment, by differential item functioning (DIF) category and grade: 2009

Grade	DIF category	Female-Male	Black-White	Hispanic-White
NOTE: Table includes all items in the assessment (the prescaling decisions). SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2009 Reading Assessment.
4	CC-	0	0	0
	BB-	0	0	0
	AA	57	57	57
	BB+	1	1	1
	CC+	0	0	0
8	CC-	0	1	0
	BB-	0	1	0
	AA	73	64	69
	BB+	0	7	4
	CC+	0	0	0
12	CC-	0	0	0
	BB-	0	2	2
	AA	61	56	59
	BB+	1	4	1
	CC+	0	0	0

Items identified as 'C'  items in at least one comparison, reading combined national and state assessment, by block and grade: 2009

Grade	Block	Item	Scale	Comparison	Group favored
1 Meaning vocabulary items were included in the DIF check only in the 2009 analysis . 2 Item specified as task subscale in the first NAEP reading framework developed and used between 1992 and 2007. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2009 Reading Assessment.
4	R14	R0V0002	Meaning vocabulary1	Female-Male	Male
8	F10	R013402	Task2	Black-White	Black
	F10	R013402	Task	Hispanic-White	Hispanic
	F11	R013010	Task	Hispanic-White	White
	F12	R053210	Literary	Female-Male	Male
	F14	R026401	Information	Black-White	Black
	F14	R026501	Information	Black-White	Black
	R1	R059602	Literary	Female-Male	Male
	R6	R058603	Literary	Black-White	Black
	R6	R058604	Literary	Black-White	Black
	R7	R058802	Information	Hispanic-White	White
	R14	R0V0401	Meaning vocabulary	Female-Male	Male
	R15	R0V0506	Meaning vocabulary	Hispanic-White	White
	R16	R0V0209	Meaning vocabulary	Female-Male	Male
	R16	R0V0206	Meaning vocabulary	Black-White	Black
	R16	R0V0210	Meaning vocabulary	Hispanic-White	White
	R17	R0V0306	Meaning vocabulary	Black-White	White
	R18	R0V0604	Meaning vocabulary	Female-Male	Female
	R18	R0V0601	Meaning vocabulary	Hispanic-White	White
	R19	R0V0709	Meaning vocabulary	Female-Male	Female
12	F4	R013502	Literary	Female-Male	Male
	F7	R013708	Information	Black-White	Black
	F7	R013703	Information	Hispanic-White	White
	F8	R053505	Information	Black-White	White
	F9	R053303	Task	Black-White	Black
	F9	R053304	Task	Black-White	Black
	F9	R053308	Task	Black-White	Black
	F10	R013402	Task	Black-White	Black
	F10	R013404	Task	Black-White	Black
	R1	R059602	Literary	Female-Male	Male
	R1	R059608	Literary	Black-White	White
	R3	R060107	Information	Female-Male	Male
	R7	R062204	Information	Female-Male	Male
	R8	R062309	Information	Black-White	Black
	R12	R063103	Information	Female-Male	Male
	R12	R063103	Information	Black-White	White
	R12	R063103	Information	Hispanic-White	White
	R13	R063209	Information	Female-Male	Male
	R15	R0V0506	Meaning vocabulary	Hispanic-White	White
	R16	R0V0802	Meaning vocabulary	Female-Male	Male

Items identified as 'CC' items in at least one comparison, grade 8 reading combined national and state assessment, by item and block: 2009

Block	Item	Scale	Comparison	Group favored
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2009 Reading Assessment.
F7	R035301	Information	White-Black	White

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