Most Spanish test items show negligible differential item functioning across gender and Hispanic–White comparisons¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2026 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · recheck by 2029: tool and model accuracy changes quickly

Subclaims¶

q2 i? 91–97% of items were classified as A items (no or negligible DIF), 3–6% as B items, and only 0.5–2% as C items with large DIF. → MAP Growth Technical Report Spanish Addendum for 2024–2025 2026

Evidence¶

MAP Growth Technical Report Spanish Addendum for 2024–2025 2026¶

MAP Growth Technical Report Spanish Addendum for 2024–2025. (2026). HMH Education Company / NWEA. https://www.nwea.org/research/publication/map-growth-spanish-technical-report-addendum/

q2 · i? · associational · r2

DIF analysis comparing male–female and Hispanic–White examinees across terms (Table 5.3). The examinee population was largely Hispanic (about 80% per term), which the report says "limits the number of group comparison that are possible."

"Results indicate the vast majority (91–97%) of items are classified as “A” items (i.e., combined A+ and A- items), which indicates no DIF or negligible amounts of DIF."

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
• Seven items exhibit absolute gender DIF by the LDF method, flagged when the total-score line falls outside .95 confidence bands — related
• DIF was found for four items but could not be anticipated from differential response times between boys and girls alone — related
• The vast majority of Spanish Math (91%) and Reading (98%) items show no misfit across fall, winter, and spring terms — related
• The Spanish math test population is predominantly Hispanic (about 78%), unlike the English math test population (about 15%), with implications for Spanish norms — related
• DIF study finds most items in category A, with C DIF rare (~1%) except for the Native English/Bilingual group (6.66%) — 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
• Spanish Math items show well-balanced difficulty and stable strong discrimination across 2024–2025 terms — related
• Cultivate survey items function without systematic bias across student groups by race/ethnicity, gender, economic disadvantage, learning differences, or EL status — related
• Goodness-of-fit results indicate Spanish MAP Growth Reading constructs are at least tau-equivalent across language background groups — related