Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the degree to which an undergraduate math curriculum matched the item difficulty levels of representative mathematics problems based on that sequence. Following a systematic process outlined by Hsu and Shermis, an item bank of 120 items was developed for placement testing at the undergraduate levels. Ranks for the final 62 item values were calculated and correlated with the rank order of the math curriculum sequence. Results suggest a congruence between curricular sequence and item difficulty levels of problems based on that sequence. This finding indicates that the linear or hierarchical assumption concerning the undergraduate-level sequence appears to be reasonable. The discussion addresses items that were exceptions to this trend and summarizes implications for computerized adaptive testing.
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