The most recent development in the field of Item Response Theory (IRT) has
been the evaluation of IRT models as multilevel models, known as Multilevel IRT
models (MLIRT). These models offer several statistical and practical advantages over
ordinary IRT models. However, models such as 2-PL MLIRT models have not been
studied yet. This dissertation consists of two studies, a simulation and a substantiation
for an urban school district dataset. The simulation study tested the performance of twoparameter
(2-PL) MLIRT models with predictor variables under various conditions that
included 3 test lengths (15, 30, and 60 items), 4 sample sizes (200, 500, 1000, and 2000),
2 correlation conditions between the predictor variable and the ability (or attitude)
parameter (rpb=.35 and .8), and 4 binomial distributions of the predictor variable (p=0.1,
0.25, 0.4, and 0.5).
The bias and Root Mean Square Deviation (RMSD) values of the item
parameters indicated that the distribution of the predictor variable and the correlation between the predictor and the ability (or attitude) parameter did not affect the estimates
of 2-PL MLIRT models. These models performed well for sample sizes as low as 500
and test lengths as low as 15 which is lower than the required sample size for ordinary
IRT models. Even for a sample size of 200, sufficiently accurate estimates were obtained
with more than 300 iterations.
The second study investigated the characteristics of the items that measured
urban teachers’ perceptions of cultural awareness and beliefs about teaching African
American children and tested whether these perceptions were influenced by the teachers’
gender, ethnicity, or teaching experience. Teacher beliefs about teaching African
American students, culturally responsive management, and cultural awareness factors
were influenced by the ethnicity of the teachers. Culturally responsive management,
home and community support, and curriculum and instructional strategies factors were
influenced by the teaching experience of the teachers. Items that were biased based on
ethnicity or teaching experience were identified. None of the items exhibited gender
bias. The study identified items that could be used over other items when the need for a
shorter instrument or more informative categories arises.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/ETD-TAMU-1683 |
| Date | 15 May 2009 |
| Creators | Natesan, Prathiba |
| Contributors | Carter, Norvella P., Thompson, Bruce |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Book, Thesis, Electronic Dissertation, text |
| Format | electronic, application/pdf, born digital |
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