Poster #27 - On the Relationship Between Item Characteristics and Linguistically Motivated Item Features

• In Event: 79.052 - MTCC Poster Session 19
  In Poster Session: 79.052-2 - Educational Measurement, Psychometrics, and Assessment Poster Session

Abstract

When pretesting test questions, maximizing the number of examinee responses can improve item parameter estimates; however, such responses are typically limited due to the time limits of the exam administration or because of the security risk posed by exposing pretest items. The problems raised by these competing goals can be ameliorated somewhat by supplementing examinee response data with auxiliary information based on incidental item features, which have been shown to improve estimation under small sample conditions. Using data from a large-scale high-stakes, licensure exam, this paper considers the relationships between 113 incidental item features that are linguistically-motivated and three outcomes that are often of interest when pretesting: item difficulty, response time, and item eligibility for scored use.

Authors

• Janet Mee, National Board of Medical Examiners

• Peter Baldwin, National Board of Medical Examiners

• Le An Ha, University of Wolverhampton

• Viktoriya Yneva, National Board of Medical Examiners