Evaluating Validity, Fairness, and Differential Item Functioning in Multistage Testing

Multistage testing is a form of assessment that involves adaptive selection of sets of items for sequential administration to test takers while an assessment is in progress (Zenisky, Hambleton, and Luecht 2010, 355). These preconfigured item sets, or modules, constitute the building blocks of the test. The modules, in turn, are assembled into content-balanced sets, called panels, which serve as the basis for on-the-fly construction of test “forms.”