To Me, IRT is Like…

From the IRT class Fall 09

• To me IRT is like furniture polish for a question, because it helps buff out the imperfections and aids in the refinement of tests and measures.

• To me, IRT is like Belgium beer because it’s an acquired taste, but I’m learning to like it!

• Voted for #1

• To me IRT is like learning poetry in a foreign language. Its elegance and utility are immediately clear. Yet I am so caught up in the mechanics and structure of the details that I fear I miss the forest for the trees. So while I can understand parts of IRT, I wonder if I am missing the beauty that others have grasped.

• To me IRT is like a fable with a lesson at the end because the same “lesson” can be used to provide solutions to many different “problems” that fit that pattern.

• To me, IRT is like an iPod when compared to the Walkman of CTT, because IRT is more technically advanced, provides better information, and requires more computing power.

• To me, IRT is like riding a bicycle. First, you see others doing it. You contemplate leaning to do it, and you undertake the task. The learning curve is bumpy. You fall, but you get back up. Once you have mastered the task, you can perform many intricate, impressive tricks.

• To me, IRT is like the answer to a question that no one has the answer to because I always wondered how the State constructed the CRCT and determined cut scores that determine a school’s AYP status. IRT has provided some understanding of the process.

• To me, IRT is like a cough medicine, because it’s hard to get down, but once you do, it is very helpful.

• To me, IRT is like a jack in the box, because you wind it up (enter your parameters and formulas) then you see what pops out! (Item Characteristic Curves, Item Information, Test Information)

• To me, IRT is like logistic regression because the form of the models is the same (logit) with similar issues related to assessing model fit (existing methods are imprecise., e.g., Yen’s Q for IRT and the Hosmer-Lemeshow Goodness-of-Fit statistic available in standard software packages to evaluate fit in multiple variable regression models (both are chi-square distributions)).

• To me, IRT is like a sport that is difficult to learn but a pleasure on you master it (like horseback riding, kayaking, or sailing). It takes a log of time of the front it to learn to formulas and the software necessary but once you have a format set up on your computer system, you can sail smoothly, gallop, or paddle along! I hope!