On September 26, Aliya Olzhayeva, a PhD student at Nazarbayev University’s Graduate School of Education, delivered a seminar titled "Exploring Differential Item Functioning (DIF) in Reading Literacy Assessments and Examining Factors that Predict Reading Literacy Among Kazakhstani High-School Students." The seminar was chaired by Professor Daniel Torrano.
The presentation was part of a large-scale study that validated reading literacy assessments in English among high-school students of a selective school network in Kazakhstan. Differential Item Functioning (DIF) examined items that might have been potentially biased against a particular group of examinees. In the study, gender-based DIF was explored to identify items that were disadvantageous to either female or male students.
The findings revealed that items biased against male students accompanied reading passages from the fiction genre, while items that disadvantaged female students belonged to non-fiction reading excerpts. The study attempted to link biased items with the reading skills these items measured, however, there was no consistent pattern.
Furthermore, as part of the validation process, factors predicting student literacy in English and growth in reading ability were explored through multilevel regression analyses. Gender and school location were statistically significant predictors of student reading ability, and mother's occupation was a statistically significant predictor of the rate of growth in reading ability.
The seminar demonstrated the intricate nature of the test construction and validation process to ensure that assessments are fair. Moreover, examining factors predicting student reading ability and growth in their ability might have potential implications for teaching and policymaking.
The seminar demonstrated the intricate nature of the test construction and validation process to ensure that assessments are fair. Moreover, examining factors predicting student reading ability and growth in their ability might have potential implications for teaching and policymaking.
