Some 2003 MCAS fourth-grade math word problems exhibited differential item functioning for English-language learners versus non-ELLs¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associationalr?·q3
Currency · newest study 2008 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · overdue for a recheck since 2011: tool and model accuracy changes quickly
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q3 i? Math word problems on the 2003 MCAS fourth-grade math test showed DIF between ELLs and non-ELLs, indicating disproportionate difficulty for ELLs. → Maria Martiniello 2008
Evidence¶
Maria Martiniello 2008¶
Maria Martiniello. (2008). Language and the Performance of English-Language Learners in Math Word Problems. Harvard Educational Review. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.78.2.70783570r1111t32
q3 · i? · associational · r?
The abstract reports a study of MCAS fourth-grade math word problems that "were found to exhibit differential item functioning for English-language learners (ELLs) and non-ELLs." DIF statistics identified items posing disproportionate difficulty for ELLs; no effect size is printed in the available text.
"a study of the linguistic complexity of math word problems that were found to exhibit differential item functioning for English-language learners (ELLs) and non-ELLs taking the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) fourth-grade math test"
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- Greater linguistic complexity increases the difficulty of English-language math items for ELLs compared to non-ELLs of equivalent math proficiency — related
- Textual analysis identifies specific linguistic features of MCAS word problems that posed disproportionate difficulty for ELLs — related
- The ICC and LDF methods identify substantially different sets of items as exhibiting DIF on a state science performance assessment — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
mcas-math-word-problems-dif-for-ells |
title |
Some 2003 MCAS fourth-grade math word problems exhibited differential item functioning for English-language learners versus non-ELLs |
description |
Some 2003 MCAS fourth-grade math word problems exhibited differential item functioning for English-language learners versus non-ELLs |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
moderate |
newest_evidence |
2008 |
recheck_by |
2011 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-15 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — maria-martiniello-2008 |
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