Keng, L., McClarty, K. L., & Davis, L. L. (2008). Item-level comparative analysis of online and paper administrations of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills . Applied Measurement in Education , 21 (3), 207–226. https://doi.org/10.1080/08957340802161774

The online and paper forms of a state assessment were compared at the item level.

The scores of 9,124 grade 8 students—math, 2,546; reading, 3,680; social studies, 2,898—and 6,469 grade 11 students—math, 2,157; ELA, 1,368; science, 2,201; social studies, 743—were analyzed from a statewide dataset in Texas (U.S.). The number of students with disabilities was not specified.

Item-level analyses compared two modes of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS). Grade 8 tests were on mathematics, reading, and social studies. Grade 11 tests were on English language arts (ELA), mathematics, science, and social studies.

No evidence of item position effects emerged, but significant differences were found for several items and objectives in all subjects at grade 8 and in mathematics and English language arts (ELA) at grade 11. Differences generally favored the paper group. ELA items that were longer in passage length and math items that required graphing and geometric manipulations or involved scrolling in the online administration tended to be the items showing mode differences. Limitations of the study were reported, and future research possibilities were suggested.