An Examination of Response Dependency When There Is More than One Correct Answer.

Passages used in the Illinois Goal Assessment Program (IGAP) reading test are intact pieces of literature, stories, and essays that match classroom reading assignments and typical student reading experiences. There are 15 testlets, each containing 5 items, associated with each passage. Each testlet requires students to demonstrate various levels of cognitive skills, from responding explicitly to drawing conclusions not directly stated, solving problems not discussed within the text, and using information derived from the passage. Because the texts often support more than one correct inference, the Illinois reading assessment uses a multiple-response (or multiple-correct) rather than multiple-choice format. This study investigates the magnitude of the dependence of items within and between testlets for IGAP narrative and expository subtests at grades 3, 6, and 8 (4,837, 4,840, and 5,011 examinees, respectively). Results suggest that the format has some effect on the issue of dependence, especially in the lower grades. Some degree of local dependence was found. It was larger within covariances than between covariances at all grades. One table and three figures present study findings. (Contains 5 references.) (SLD)