3-Day Training on Test Construction,
Item Analysis and Utilization of Test
Results for Senior High School Teachers
March 20 – 22, 2017
ComVal Hotel and Restaurant
Item Analysis and
Interpretation of
Results
Michael Eric L. Dandan, MAT
Teacher III- SHS
Atty. Orlando S. Rimando NHS
A glimpse of our topic
How do we
evaluate our test?
Recall: What is a test?
An objective measure of a sample of behavior or psychological object
(Anastasi & Urbina, 1997).
A systematic procedure for measuring a sample of behavior by
posing a set of questions in a uniform manner (Gronlund & Linn,
2000).
Qualities of a Good Test
How do we evaluate our test?
Systematic inspection
QUALITATIVE of test plan, tasks, and
EVALUATION format.
Psychometric
QUANTITATIVE techniques in item
EVALUATION analysis.
Qualitative Evaluation
Adequacy of Assessment or Test Plan
Adequacy of Assessment Task
Adequacy of Test Format and Directions
Quantitative Evaluation
determining the psychometric
characteristics of the test using the
ITEM ANALYSIS
- The science of Assessment.
- the scientific study of how to better develop, analyze, and score
an assessments – regardless of how they are used.
Psychometric Techniques for Item Analysis
Test/ Item
Statistics
These are psychometric techniques
generally based on a norm-referenced
perspective (Method of extreme
groups).
Psychometric Techniques for Item Analysis
Item Difficulty
is simply the percentage of students
taking the test who answered the item
correctly. It is represented by p index.
Range: 0.0 to 1.0 or 0% to 100%
Formula:
UR = No. of students from the UPPER
criterion group that had gotten the
item correctly or had chosen a
UR LR particular option under analysis.
p
N LR = No. of students from the LOWER
criterion group that had gotten the
item correctly or had chosen a
particular option under analysis.
N = No. of students that had tried to
answer the item
Sample Computation
1. Arrange test scores from highest to lowest.
2. Get one-third of the papers from the highest
scores and the other third from the lowest scores.
3. Record separately the number of times each
alternative was chosen by the students in both
groups.
4. Add the number of correct answers to each item
made by the combined upper and lower groups.
5. Compute the index of difficulty for each item.
Sample Computation Item Difficulty
UR LR
p
N
14 7
p
40
21
p
40
p 0.525
Rule of Thumb: p index
The nearer the p value to 0.0, or 0.0% the
more DIFFICULT the item becomes.
The nearer the p value to 1.0, or 100 %
the EASIER the item becomes.
How difficult should our test/ item be?
For an objective item test, the ideal difficulty would
be halfway between the percentage of pure guess
and 100%. (Thompson & Levitov, 1985)
◦ Ex. p=0.63 for a multiple choice test with 4 options.
Eclectic distribution of difficult, average and easy
items; with extremely limited use of items having p
= 0.9 or more (Frary, 1995)
How do we interpret our test/ item?
How important is item difficulty?
Item difficulty has a profound
effect on the variability of test
scores and the precision to
which the test discriminates
between achievement groups.
(Thorndike, et al.,1991)
Psychometric Techniques for Item Analysis
Item
Discrimination
It is the ability of an item to
discriminate between students
UR L R
Di with high or low achievement.
0.5N It is represented by Di.
Range: -1.0 to 1.0
Sample Computation Item Discrimination
UR L R
Di
0.5N
14 7
Di
0.5(40)
7
Di
20
Di 0.35
How do we interpret our test/ item?
Discard
Poor
Acceptable
Good
Very Good
Rule of Thumb: Di index
The higher the discrimination index,
the better the item becomes.
Importance of Item Discrimination
Items that do not discriminate can
seriously affect the validity of the
test.
Negatively discriminating items are
useless and tend to decrease the
validity of the test. (Wood, 1960)
Solving for the effectiveness of distracters
Solve for Di of each wrong option
(applicable only for multiple choice items)
Rule of Thumb
The more negative the Di index will be the
more effective is the distracter
Implications of Evaluating Tests
It helps prevent wastage of time and effort that
went in to test and assessment preparation.
It provides a basis for the general improvement of
classroom instruction.
It provides a venue for teachers to develop their
test construction skills.
Let’s Do This!
• Systematic inspection of test items,
tasks and format
• Item analysis of using Microsoft Excel ®
“ CITAS – Classical Item and
Test Analysis Spreadsheet “
Let the CITAS
experience
begin!
