Pan-Canadian Assessment Program (PCAP) 2007 reading ability item data and contextual data on reading strategies were analyzed to investigate the relationship between self-reported reading strategies and item difficulty. Students who reported using higher- or lower-order strategies were identified through a factor analysis. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether students with the same underlying reading ability but who reported using different reading strategies found the items differentially difficult. Differential item functioning (DIF) analyses identified the items on which students who tended to use higher-order reading strategies excelled, which were selected response items, but students who preferred using lower-order strategies found these items more difficult. The opposite pattern was found for constructed response items. The results of the study suggest that DIF analyses can be used to investigate which reading strategies are related to item difficulty when controlling for students’ level of ability.

Pan-Canadian Assessment Program (PCAP) 2007 reading ability item data and contextual data on reading strategies were analyzed to investigate the relationship between self-reported reading strategies and item difficulty. Students who reported using higher- or lower-order strategies were identified through a factor analysis. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether students with the same underlying reading ability but who reported using different reading strategies found the items differentially difficult. Differential item functioning (DIF) analyses identified the items on which students who tended to use higher-order reading strategies excelled, which were selected response items, but students who preferred using lower-order strategies found these items more difficult. The opposite pattern was found for constructed response items. The results of the study suggest that DIF analyses can be used to investigate which reading strategies are related to item difficulty when controlling for students’ level of ability.