NAEP Technical DocumentationResults of NAEP Differential Item Functioning (DIF) Analysis for Reading Long-Term Trend Assessment in 2012

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). For polytomously scored items, the corresponding categories are denoted by duplicated letters (i.e., "AA items" exhibit no DIF, "BB" items exhibit a weak indication of DIF), and "CC" items exhibit 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. Mathematics long-term trend (LTT) does not have any polytomously-scored items for final scaling.

Number of dichotomously scored items, reading long-term trend assessment, by differential item functioning (DIF) category and age: 2012
Age	DIF category	Female/Male	Black/White	Hispanic/White
NOTE: This 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), 2012 Reading Long-Term Trend Assessment.
9	C-	0	0	0
	B-	0	6	3
	A	82	76	75
	B+	2	2	5
	C+	0	0	1
13	C-	0	0	0
	B-	6	3	4
	A	89	87	86
	B+	3	7	9
	C+	1	2	0
17	C-	1	1	1
	B-	4	2	3
	A	87	87	87
	B+	2	5	4
	C+	1	0	0

Number of polytomously scored items, reading long-term trend assessment, by differential item functioning (DIF) category and age: 2012
Age	DIF category	Female/Male	Black/White	Hispanic/White
NOTE: This 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), 2012 Reading Long-Term Trend Assessment.
9	CC-	0	0	0
	BB-	0	0	0
	AA	4	3	4
	BB+	0	1	0
	CC+	0	0	0
13	CC-	0	0	0
	BB-	0	0	0
	AA	6	7	7
	BB+	1	0	0
	CC+	0	0	0
17	CC-	0	1	0
	BB-	0	1	1
	AA	4	5	6
	BB+	4	1	1
	CC+	0	0	0

Items identified as 'C' or 'CC' items in at least one comparison, reading long-term trend assessment, by block and age: 2012
Age	Block	Item	Scale	Comparison	Group favored
NOTE: A single overall scale was used. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2012 Reading Long-Term Trend Assessment.
9	R2	N021502	Reading LTT	Hispanic-White	Hispanic
13	R7	N024901	Reading LTT	Black-White	Black
	R10	N027803	Reading LTT	Black-White	Black
	R10	N021301	Reading LTT	Female-Male	Female
17	R2	N023801	Reading LTT	Female-Male	Female
	R2	N021403	Reading LTT	Hispanic-White	White
	R9	N029002	Reading LTT	Black-White	White
	R10	N028201	Reading LTT	Black-White	White
	R10	N028201	Reading LTT	Female-Male	Male

Last updated 24 February 2016 (GF)

Printer-friendly Version