Gender‐Based Differential Item Performance in Mathematics Achievement Items

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Abstract
A procedure for the detection of differential item performance (DIP) is used to investigate the relationships between characteristics of mathematics achievement items and gender differences in performance. Eight randomly equivalent samples of high school seniors were each given a unique form of the ACT Assessment Mathematics Usage Test (ACTM). Students without requisite mathematics courses were deleted from the samples to reduce the confounding effects of differences in instruction at the high school level. Signed measures of DIP were obtained for each item in the eight ACTM forms. These DIP estimates were then analyzed in a 6 × 8 (item category by form) experimental design. A significant item category effect was found indicating a relationship between item characteristics and gender‐based DIP. Predictions, based on previous research about the categories of items that would contribute to gender‐based DIP, were supported: Geometry and mathematics reasoning items were relatively more difficult for female examinees and the more algorithmic, computation‐oriented items were relatively easier.