Bias Geographic Location of Math National Examination in Junior High School: Analysis of Differential Item Functioning (DIF)

Abstract

Diversity is a hot issue discussed in the world of education. With its diversity, Indonesia has great potential to study such things as the geographical diversity equalization factors that affect the quality of education. Implementation of national examinations (NE) as a benchmark and standards from primary to secondary education have a different condition for each location, such as Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta (DIY) representing the West and Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT) representing the western region of Indonesia. The focus of this research is to find out how much difference the ability of junior high school students in Indonesia in terms of geographical location. This study uses five DIF detection methods for mathematics NE 2013/2014 school year to analyze students' different abilities. The analysis results show that, in general, the NE questions for the 2013/2014 academic year benefit the focal group / NTT on Algebra, Geometry, and Statistics/Probability material, although with lower ability compared to group reference /DIY. With the analysis carried out, policymakers can take corrective steps to focus more on fixing problems, facilities, and resources teacher power so that problem inequality from aspect geographical there is no future again in Indonesia.