Hamhuis, E., Glas, C., & Meelissen, M. (2020). Tablet assessment in primary education: Are there performance differences between TIMSS’ paper-and-pencil test and tablet test among Dutch grade-four students ? British Journal of Educational Technology , 51 (6), 2340–2358. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.12914

Accommodations were not directly investigated. The focus was on exploring potential differences in test mode, between traditional paper-and-pencil forms and digital tablet administration of large-scale assessments.

A total of 532 students in grade 4, from 23 primary schools in the Netherlands, provided data as part of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2019 Equivalence Study. The schools comprised a convenience sample and were reported not to be representative of the grade 4 population of the Netherlands. The student sample was composed of 50% females and 50% males; disability characteristics were not reported.

An extant dataset from the TIMSS 2019 Equivalence Study was analyzed; that is, grade 4 scores from the math and science tests. Performance results were analyzed via a two-dimensional generalized partial credit model (GPCM), to detect whether paper and digital tests measure equivalent academic content. Data were also compared at the item level with a previous TIMSS assessment in 2015.

The TIMSS 2015 and TIMSS 2019 assessments were found to be highly correlated and therefore equivalent. Analyses of the two test modes—paper and digital—yielded that the scales within the grade 4 assessments, for each of their multiple forms, were equivalent for both math and science. The assessments administered on digital tablets tested the same content as the paper-based administration. The range of item difficulties were also equivalent. The comparison of assessment data between male and female test-takers showed that there were no mean score differences in the paper mode, but that female participants scored marginally higher (with statistical significance) than male participants for both math and science in the digital tablet mode.