Author: Mark Pomplun,  David Wright

Published: 1992

The purpose of this study was to conduct a detailed analysis of the difficulty over time of the essay prompts for the English Composition Achievement Test (ECT) with Essay of the College Board. Differential difficulty was explored by considering whether the relationship between the reference groups-male and white students-and the focal groups-female, American Indian, Asian American, Asian American ESL (English as a Second Language), black, Hispanic, and Hispanic ESL students-had remained constant over the seven years studied. Only two ECT essays examined showed signs of differential performance of groups that were associated with specific essay features. In one essay, the topic of heroes and values may have favored groups more familiar with cultural values. In the other essay, the combination of an abstract topic with an ironic tone may have caused differential performance for those with lower language skills.