Does Fumbling Pattern Response Fumble Equating?

• In Event: Factors Impacting Equating Results

Abstract

Fumbling refers to the situation when examinees have trouble getting started because he found the test format confusing. It is a special type of “aberrant response pattern”.
Some equating methods have been examined under ARP situations in previous research but no study has been conducted to examine how fumbling affects the equating. Given the importance of ability estimation accuracy and the lack of research on fumbling, the purpose of this study is to examine the impact of fumbling on the chain equating process.
This research demonstrates that a fumbling pattern could possibly have an impact on the accuracy of equated scores in equating chain across years, even though the fumbling items are not included in the anchor section.

Authors

• Ou Zhang, Pearson

• Xiaomin Li, The Hong Kong Institute of Education

• Xiaolin Wang, Indiana University