Evaluating Common Item Block Options when Faced with Practical Constraints

Authors

Amanda Wolkowitz
Susan Davis-Becker

DOI

https://doi.org/10.7275/p0qf-kx41

Abstract

This study evaluates the impact of common item characteristics on the outcome of equating in credentialing examinations when traditionally recommended representation is not possible. This research used real data sets from several credentialing exams to test the impact of content representation, item statistics, and number of common items on equating results. The results of this research suggests that it may not be necessary to have a common item block that is strictly proportional in content or difficulty to the entire exam if the exam is unidimensional. The results also suggest that it may be beneficial to use all common items between two forms for equating instead of focusing on a smaller anchor block. Accessed 2,858 times on https://pareonline.net from September 30, 2015 to December 31, 2019. For downloads from January 1, 2020 forward, please click on the PlumX Metrics link to the right.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

Recommended Citation

Wolkowitz, Amanda and Davis-Becker, Susan (2019) "Evaluating Common Item Block Options when Faced with Practical Constraints," Practical Assessment, Research, and Evaluation: Vol. 20, Article 19.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7275/p0qf-kx41
Available at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/pare/vol20/iss1/19