In this study, the Canadian English and French versions of the Problem-Solving Measure of the Programme for International Student Assessment 2003 were examined to investigate their degree of measurement comparability at the item- and test-levels. Three methods of differential item functioning (DIF) were compared: parametric and nonparametric item…

One major aim of international large-scale assessments (ILSA) like PISA is to monitor changes in student performance over time. To accomplish this task, a set of common items (i.e., link items) is repeatedly administered in each assessment. Linking methods based on item response theory (IRT) models are used to align the results from the different…

Past studies have supported the view that parent background and family socioeconomic status determine the post-secondary educational expectations of adolescents. They build on Pierre Bourdieu's social reproduction theory, but do not fully explain why some adolescents aspire to post-secondary education and some do not. The capability approach…

Profile analysis is one of the main tools for studying whether differential item functioning can be related to specific features of test items. While relevant, profile analysis in its current form has two restrictions that limit its usefulness in practice: It assumes that all test items have equal discrimination parameters, and it does not test…

The aim of this study is to investigate the cross-cultural measurement invariance of the reading skills items of the PISA 2018 at test and item level. Another aim of the study is to determine the item bias for items that do not show cross-cultural measurement invariance in line with expert opinions. A survey model was used in the study. The study…

Loglinear smoothing (LLS) estimates the latent trait distribution while making fewer assumptions about its form and maintaining parsimony, thus leading to more precise item response theory (IRT) item parameter estimates than standard marginal maximum likelihood (MML). This article provides the expectation-maximization algorithm for MML estimation…

This investigation set out to analyse the relation between parents' academic qualifications, profession and role in educating their children and their children's level of efficacy in reading at the end of the adolescent stage, in three states with different socio-cultural contexts, namely Canada, Finland and Singapore. The study is carried out in…

This study aims to investigate which factors are associated with Turkey's 15-year-olds' scoring above the OECD average (493) on the PISA'09 reading assessment. Collected from a total of 4,996 15-year-old students from Turkey, data were analyzed by logistic regression analysis in order to model the data of students who were split into two: (1)…

Mathematical knowledge and skills are needed to find solutions to the problems encountered in daily life. Although individuals are given the opportunity to receive equal education, it is seen that there are differences in the achievement of individuals. Individual-based factors can affect the achievement of individuals. One of the most important…

Methods for detecting differential item functioning (DIF) and item bias are typically used in the process of item analysis when developing new measures; adapting existing measures for different populations, languages, or cultures; or more generally validating test score inferences. In 2007 in "Language Assessment Quarterly," Zumbo…

The aim of this study is to examine whether the expansion of higher education across countries is associated with the growth of shadow education as a function of families' efforts to ensure attainment of educational opportunities. To address this research objective, this study samples approximately 163,000 students, nested in 21 Organization for…

International studies like PISA use context student or school questionnaires to collect data on student family background, attitudes and learning context. Questionnaire constructs are typically measured using dichotomous or Likert-type items. Scaling of questionnaire items in order to obtain measures of family background, student attitudes or…