AUTHOR=Meng Xiangbin , Yang Tao , Shi Ningzhong , Xin Tao 

TITLE=Full-information item bifactor model for mathematical ability assessment in Chinese compulsory education quality monitoring

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=Volume 13 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1049472

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1049472

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=This study focuses on the measurement of mathematical ability in the Chinese Compulsory Education Qualification Monitoring (CCEQM) framework using bifactor theory. First, we propose a full-information item bifactor (FIBF) model for the measurement of mathematical ability. Second, the performance of the FIBF model is empirically studied using a data set from three representative provinces were selected from from CCEQM 2015--2017. Finally, Monte Carlo simulations are conducted to demonstrate the accuracy of the model evaluation indices and parameter estimation methods used in the empirical study.
The obtained results are as follows: (1) The results for the four used model selection indices (AIC, SABIC, HQ, BIC) consistently showed that the fit of the FIBF model is better than that of the UIRT; (2) All of the estimated general and domain-specific abilities of the FIBF model have reasonable interpretations; (3) The model evaluation indices and parameter estimation methods exhibit excellent accuracy, indicating that the application of the FIBF model is technically feasible in large-scale testing projects.