Practical Significance of Item Misfit in Educational Assessments

Abstract

Testing item fit is an important step when calibrating and analyzing item response theory (IRT)-based tests, as model fit is a necessary prerequisite for drawing valid inferences from estimated parameters. In the literature, numerous item fit statistics exist, sometimes resulting in contradictory conclusions regarding which items should be excluded from the test. Recently, researchers argue to shift the focus from statistical item fit analyses to evaluating practical consequences of item misfit. This article introduces a method to quantify potential bias of relationship estimates (e.g., correlation coefficients) due to misfitting items. The potential deviation informs about whether item misfit is practically significant for outcomes of substantial analyses. The method is demonstrated using data from an educational test.