The Long-Term Sustainability of Different Item Response Theory Scaling Methods

This article investigates the accuracy of examinee classification into performance categories and the estimation of the theta parameter for several item response theory (IRT) scaling techniques when applied to six administrations of a test. Previous research has investigated only two administrations...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Educational and psychological measurement 2011-04, Vol.71 (2), p.362-379
Main Authors: Keller, Lisa A., Keller, Robert R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accuracy
Bias
Biological and medical sciences
Classification
Computation
Educational evaluation
Equated Scores
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Item Response Theory
Mean square errors
Parameter estimation
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Psychometrics
Psychometrics. Statistics. Methodology
Scaling
Statistical Bias
Statistics. Mathematics
Sustainability
Testing Programs
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Summary:This article investigates the accuracy of examinee classification into performance categories and the estimation of the theta parameter for several item response theory (IRT) scaling techniques when applied to six administrations of a test. Previous research has investigated only two administrations; however, many testing programs equate tests across multiple administrations. As such, this article seeks to examine the long-term sustainability of IRT scaling methods. Three different types of shifts in the ability distribution were examined: no change, a mean shift, and a change in skewness. Haebara, Stocking and Lord, mean—sigma, mean—mean, and fixed common item parameter (FCIP) scaling were compared relative to bias, root mean square error, and classification of examinees into performance categories. Results indicate that FCIP may be the most suitable for complex changes in examinee performance, whereas the methods performed quite similarly for simple changes.
ISSN:0013-1644
1552-3888
DOI:10.1177/0013164410375111