Cultivate survey items function without systematic bias across student groups by race/ethnicity, gender, economic disadvantage, learning differences, or EL status¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2025 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · recheck by 2028: tool and model accuracy changes quickly

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Differential item functioning analyses found no systematic bias in how Cultivate items functioned across the tested student groups. → Porter 2025

Evidence¶

Porter 2025¶

Porter, S., Shyjka, A., & Kling, K. (2025). Early insights from the revalidation of the Cultivate Survey: Learning conditions shape students' beliefs about being valued. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Consortium on School Research. https://consortium.uchicago.edu/publications/early-insights-from-the-revalidation-of-the-cultivate-survey

q2 · i? · associational · r2

Revalidation item-functioning analyses of Cultivate responses in CPS. The article reports "no systematic bias in how the survey items functioned across student groups," meaning questions were not easier or harder to endorse for one group than another.

"analyses revealed no systematic bias in how the survey items functioned across student groups based on race/ethnicity, gender, economic disadvantage, learning differences, or English Learner status."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• DIF analyses indicate the vast majority of MAP Growth items show negligible differential item functioning across gender and racial/ethnic groups — related
• The overall CT–PCK Survey functioned similarly across teacher characteristic groups, though some items showed raw differential item functioning above 0.64 logits — related
• Seven items exhibit absolute gender DIF by the LDF method, flagged when the total-score line falls outside .95 confidence bands — related
• Differential item functioning was found in four items across the function, form and level dimensions — related
• Courseware use did not disadvantage any student group and appeared especially promising for under-represented minority students, with grades independent of Pell, enrollment, age, gender, and first-gen status in 75% or more of analyses. — related
• DIF analysis finds mostly negligible or slight-to-moderate differential item functioning, with only one item showing moderate-to-large DIF favoring Asian over White participants — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Most Spanish test items show negligible differential item functioning across gender and Hispanic–White comparisons — related