11.031 - Considerations for Using Assessments Worldwide in Principled Ways

Session Type: Seminar

Abstract

This hands-on session will open with a discussion of the implications of test translation on new populations and discuss its impact on item difficulty. Through this initial discussion, the presenters will illustrate a variety of problems that could arise for test takers of any age and discuss the implications on different aspects of validity including score interpretation. Presenters will use a mixed methods approach including ethnographic studies to identify possible sources of differential item functioning in assessments administered internationally. They will also use items from various global assessments to demonstrate how the use of diverse tools (e.g., natural language processing, language taxonomies, theories of translation error), can be used as aids to detect linguistic, cultural, and other features of items that may introduce differential item functioning. In this interactive session, participants will be asked to identify and modify items according to their linguistic and cultural features, and asked to hypothesize how such changes would help make the items be more universally accessible to diverse test-taker populations.

Sub Unit

• Division D - Measurement and Research Methodologies / Division D - Measurement and Research Methodology

Chair

• Maria Elena Oliveri, Educational Testing Service

Participants

• Michael J. Feuer, The George Washington University

• Guillermo Solano-Flores, Stanford University