NAEP Technical Documentation

Number of Items by Severity of Differential Item Functioning in the Mathematics Combined National and State Assessment: 2015

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 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 scale for this reason.

Number of dichotomously scored items, mathematics combined national and state assessment, by differential item functioning (DIF) group, grade, and DIF category: 2015

Grade	DIF category	Female/Male	Black/White	Hispanic/White
4	C-	0	0	1
	B-	7	4	2
	A	121	119	123
	B+	0	5	2
	C+	0	0	0
8	C-	1	0	0
	B-	8	1	0
	A	118	124	126
	B+	1	3	2
	C+	0	0	0
12	C-	4	1	1
	B-	6	5	7
	A	148	148	150
	B+	5	9	5
	C+	0	0	0
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), 2015 Mathematics Assessment.

Number of polytomously scored items, mathematics combined national and state assessment, by differential item functioning (DIF) group, grade, and DIF category: 2015

Grade	DIF category	Female/Male	Black/White	Hispanic/White
4	CC-	0	0	0
	BB-	0	0	0
	AA	34	34	33
	BB+	0	0	1
	CC+	0	0	0
8	CC-	0	0	0
	BB-	0	0	0
	AA	38	37	38
	BB+	0	1	0
	CC+	0	0	0
12	CC-	0	1	0
	BB-	2	1	3
	AA	44	46	49
	BB+	6	3	0
	CC+	0	1	0
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), 2015 Mathematics Assessment.

Items identified as "C" items in at least one comparison, mathematics combined national and state assessment, by grade and block: 2015

Grade	Block	Item	Subscale	Comparison	Group Favored
4	M4	M147801	Data analysis, statistics, and probability	Hispanic/White	White
8	M10	M223001	Number properties and operations	Female/Male	Male
12	M2	M301701	Data analysis, statistics, and probability	Female/Male	Male
	M3	M197302	Measurement	Black/White	White
	M10	M194201	Data analysis, statistics, and probability	Hispanic/White	White
	M11	M183101	Algebra	Female/Male	Male
	M11	M189201	Algebra	Female/Male	Male
	M12	M199701	Number properties and operations	Female/Male	Male
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2015 Mathematics Assessment.

Items identified as "CC" items in at least one comparison, mathematics national assessment, by grade and block: 2015

Grade	Block	Item	Subscale	Comparison	Group Favored
12	M1	M175901	Data analysis, statistics, and probability	White/Black	Black
	M6	M175601	Data analysis, statistics, and probability	White/Black	White
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2015 Mathematics Assessment.

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