IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecoedu/v61y2017icp79-84.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A self-reference problem in test score normalization

Author

Listed:
  • Penney, Jeffrey

Abstract

It is considered standard practice to transform IRT-scaled test scores into standard normal variables for regression analysis in order to enable comparison with other research whose test scores are similarly transformed. This paper calls this practice into question. I show that these transformations can potentially result in radically different estimates of regression parameters due to differences in sample composition. Regression coefficient comparisons between different samples that use z-standardized test scores is only possible if the samples are considered to be random draws from the same population. I outline several different methods to deal with this problem and the caveats attached to each.

Suggested Citation

  • Penney, Jeffrey, 2017. "A self-reference problem in test score normalization," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 79-84.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:61:y:2017:i:c:p:79-84
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2017.10.003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272775717303266
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.econedurev.2017.10.003?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mookerjee, Sulagna & Slichter, David, 2018. "Test Scores, Schools, and the Geography of Economic Opportunity," MPRA Paper 89101, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Black-White test score gap; Item response theory; Normalization; Standardization; Test scores;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C18 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Methodolical Issues: General
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:61:y:2017:i:c:p:79-84. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/econedurev .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.