Assessment of Standard Setting through Differential Item Functioning Procedures in Mathematics Achievement Test in Edo and Ondo States

Abstract

The study assessed standard setting through differential item functioning (DIF) procedures in achievement test in Mathematics multiple choice test of the National Business and Technical Examinations Board (NABTEB). Two research questions were answered and one hypothesis was tested. The ex post facto research design was adopted. The population comprised 4,800 examinees who sat for the Mathematics multiple choice test examination in Edo and Ondo States. The sample used was 4,751, comprising 3,186 male and 1,565 female examinees. A 50-Mathematics multiple choice test item was the instrument used to gather data. The data was analysed using frequency, percentage and chi square statistic. The findings revealed that thirteen items functioned differentially by sex, 9 items favoured the male while 4 items favoured the female. Also, there was no significant difference in the items functioning differentially. It was therefore, recommended that DIF analysis should be performed regularly when developing large scale assessments for multipurpose tasks.