The determination of cultural item bias in the California Achievement Tests.

Abstract

A three parameter model of Item Response Theory reported by Lord (1968, 1980) was used to determine whether cultural item bias existed in the Reading Comprehension subtest of the California Achievement Tests. Item responses from 1500 second graders from Southern Arizona schools with 500 responses from each of three groups (Anglo, Black, and Hispanic) were analyzed via MULTILOG program (Thissen, 1984) using the likelihood ratio chi-square (IRT-LR) method. Results indicated that there were no significant differences in item difficulty across items and groups. However, the typical group mean differences often reported wherein Anglos usually score between.5 to 1 standard deviation above the group means of other minorities on standardized tests did appear. The results of this study were also consistent with and supportive of the notion that most standardized tests today are not biased against specific minority groups. Selected items from the Reading Comprehension subtest on the California Achievement Tests are being used to date as anchor items for newer achievement tests. As such, this study lends support and credence to those items. Other implications for future research are discussed.