Determinants of Differential Item Functioning in an Elementary Mathematics Test With Accommodations

Abstract

Those items or test characteristics that are likely to result in differential item functioning (DIF) across accommodated test forms in statewide tests have received little attention. An examination of elementary-level student performance across accommodated test forms in a large-scale mathematics assessment revealed DIF variations by grades, accommodation conditions, graphic inclusion, and item types (i.e., constructed response versus multiple choice). In general, items with a lower grade, graphic, constructed-response format appear to benefit accommodated examinees for a statewide mathematics test.