Funcionamiento Diferencial del Ítem en una Evaluación Estandarizada según Necesidades Educativas Especiales Transitorias

Abstract

An important aspect of learning assessment is the validity of the results of the test used because they are the basis for social, political or institutional decisions. The existence of differential item functioning (DIF) indicates that subjects having presented the same degree of skill, have different probability of correctly respond to an item, which strongly affect an aspect of the validity of the test, which relates to the bias, i.e. favor one group over another in the evaluation. In recent years, integration and learning of students with temporary special educational needs (NEET) have been the focus of special education policies involving resources, specialists and new ways of working in schools in Chile. Using a sequential quantitative methodological approach we explored the differential item functioning, aspect of the validity of the results, of a standardized test administered by measurement center (MIDE UC) to more than 100 schools in Chile in language and mathematics from 4th to 8th grade to children with and without NEET. An initial analysis of differential item functioning (DIF) showed similarities in the average group ability and few items with significant DIF (less than 10%). Later, we explored how schools operationalize the variable depicting NEET. Results suggest that the group of children without NEET used in the statistical analysis may have been, in fact, a hybrid group including some children with NEET. (English) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]