Mathematical equivalence assessment: Measurement invariance across six countries

Within mathematics education research, there has been a strong focus on students’ understanding of mathematical equivalence because of its key role in the development of mathematics skills. One of the most frequently used tools to assess students’ understanding of equivalence has been the Mathematical Equivalence Assessment (MEA) (Rittle-Johnson et al., 2011). In this study, we investigate for the first time the cross-cultural measurement invariance of an adaptation of the MEA. This included a sample (N = 2760) of students aged 8–12 years old from China, England, New Zealand, South Korea, Turkey, and US to examine whether the same construct is being measured across all countries. Configural and partial scalar invariance was established for a two-factor, 11-item version of the adapted MEA. There were significant mean differences across countries, with students from China performing better and students from New Zealand performing worse than the rest of the sample.