Technical Foundations Flashcards
7 cards from real AREADING practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Technical Foundations flashcards as text
Which measurement framework underpins the item calibration process for aReading?
Answer: Item Response Theory (IRT)
aReading items are calibrated using Item Response Theory (IRT), which models the relationship between a student's ability and the probability of a correct response.
What does a high item discrimination parameter (a-parameter) indicate in IRT?
Answer: The item clearly separates high-ability from low-ability readers
A high a-parameter means the item strongly differentiates between students of differing reading ability, making it more informative for the CAT algorithm.
Which IRT parameter reflects an item's difficulty level in the aReading item bank?
Answer: b-parameter
The b-parameter (difficulty) represents the ability level at which a student has a 50% probability of answering the item correctly.
In a three-parameter IRT model, what does the c-parameter represent?
Answer: The pseudo-guessing probability for a low-ability student
The c-parameter (pseudo-guessing) estimates the probability that a very low-ability student answers correctly by chance, common in multiple-choice formats.
What is the primary purpose of the aReading item bank's calibration studies?
Answer: To establish stable item parameters before the items are used operationally
Calibration studies collect response data from large samples to estimate reliable IRT parameters for each item prior to operational use.
Why is aReading considered 'scale-free' with respect to grade level?
Answer: A student's score reflects ability directly, regardless of which grade-level items were administered
Because all items sit on a single continuous RIT scale, a student's score describes their reading ability independently of which grade's items were presented.
Which of the following best defines 'measurement invariance' in the context of aReading score interpretation?
Answer: Item parameters remain stable across different groups of students
Measurement invariance means item parameters function the same way across demographic subgroups, supporting fair and comparable score interpretations.