Paper- vs. computer-based assessment in high-stakes testing: a common-person investigation of mode comparability.

This study examined the mode comparability of paper-based (YDS) and computer-based (e-YDS) forms of a high-stakes foreign language examination administered in Türkiye. Rather than treating the analysis as a routine test equating, we framed it as a test of whether a change in administration mode leaves the measured construct invariant and the resulting scores comparable. Using a common-person design and the Rasch model, six form pairs were placed on a common scale through both separate calibration with mean/sigma transformation and concurrent calibration. Model-data fit and dimensionality (via tetrachoric inter-item correlations and parallel analysis) were evaluated for every form, and the linking was examined with and without the exclusion of inconsistent examinees as a sensitivity analysis. Scaling constants, the linking RMSE, and the paired mean difference (Δ) were computed, and cross-form test information functions were compared. Across all pairs the data were essentially unidimensional and fit the Rasch model adequately, with a comparably dominant single dimension for paper-based and computer-based forms. Although the computer-based forms did not display a stronger secondary dimension than the paper-based forms, the design-with different items and administration dates-cannot isolate a pure mode effect. Linking constants and the estimated mode difference were nearly identical with and without examinee exclusion (mode differences ≤ ~0.17 logits), and the separate and concurrent methods agreed almost perfectly at the item-parameter level (