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MODULE III

Lesson 9: Reliability of Tests or Instruments

Objectives At the end of this lesson, the students are expected to:

 Define and differentiate the commonly used terms in CPE 104

 Explain the Types of Validity
 Discuss the Importance of Validity.
 Enumerate the Factors affecting Reliability of a test.
 Explain the Four Methods of Establishing Reliability of a test.

Ice Breaker: 1. Create a life-map in relation to teaching.

Discussion

Definition of Terms

Reliability – refers to the consistency with which it yields the

same rank for
individuals who take the test more than once (Shuttleworth,2009).

Reliability coefficient is a measure of the amount of error associated

with the test scores (American Educational Research Association,1999).

Factors Affecting Reliability of a Test based from Haladyna (1997)

1. Length of the test

2. Moderate item difficulty
3. Objective scoring
4. Heterogeneity of the student group
5. Limited time

According to Jackson (2012). Here are the different methods of establishing

reliability of a test

1. Test-retest Method – a type of reliability determined by administering the

same test twice to the same group of students with any time interval between
the test.
2. Equivalent Form – also called as parallel or alternate form) a type of reliability
by administering two different but equivalent forma of test.
3. Split-half Method - administered test once and score two equivalent halves of
the test. The test is split into halves that are equivalent, the usual procedure is
to score the even-numbered and the odd-numbered item separately. This
provides two scores for each student. The results of the test are correlated using
Spearman-Brown formula to provide a measure of internal consistency.
4. Kuder-Richardson Formula - applicable only in situations where students’
responses are scored dichotomously. It is the most useful with traditional test
items that are scored as right or wrong, true or false, and yes or no type.

Description of Reliability Coefficient based from Haladyna (1997)

a) The range of the reliability coefficient is from 0 to 10.

b) The acceptable range of value 0.60 or higher.

Name of Professor: Ava Clare Marie O. Robles, Ph.D. Subject: Assessment in Learning 1 (CPE 105)
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c) The higher the value of the reliability coefficient, the more reliable the
overall test items are.
d) Higher reliability indicates that the test items measure the same thing.

Reliability Coefficient Interpretation

0.9 and above Excellent
0.80 – 0.89 Good
0.70 – 0.79 Adequate
Below 0.70 May have limited
applicability

Formulas: based from Kuder & Richardson (1937)

1. Pearson product Moment Correlation Coefficient

2. Spearman-Brown Formula

rot= 2roe
1+roe
Where, rot = reliability of the original text

roe = reliability of the correlation of odd and even items

3. KR-20 and KR-21

k ∑ pq k x (k− x)
KR 20 =
k−1 (
1− 2
s ) KR 21=
k−1 [
1−
ks2 ]
k= number of items k= number of items

q= 1 – p x = mean value

s2= variance of items s2= variance of the total score

p = proportion of the students who got

the item correctly (index of difficulty)

Example: Ms. Gaut administered a 40-item test in English for her Grade VI pupils
in Malanao Elementary School. Below are the scores of 15 pupils, find the reliability using
the Kuder-Richardson formula.

Student Score (x) Score (x2)

1 16 256
2 25 625
3 35 1225
4 39 1521
5 25 625

Name of Professor: Ava Clare Marie O. Robles, Ph.D. Subject: Assessment in Learning 1 (CPE 105)
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6 18 324
7 19 361
8 22 484
9 33 1089
10 36 1296
11 20 400
12 17 289
13 26 676
14 35 1225
15 39 1521
n = 15 Σ x =405 Σx = 11 917
2

Step 1:
Solve the mean and the standard deviation of the scores using the table.

n ( Σ x 2 )−( Σ x ) 2
2 Σx
s = Mean = n
n ( n−1 )

15 ( 11 917 )−(405)2 405

= = 15
15(14)

178755−164 025
= 210
= 27

14 730
= 210

s2 = 70.14

Step 2:
Solve for the reliability coefficient using the Kuder-Richardson formula.

k x (k− x)
KR 21=
k−1 [
1−
ks2 ]
40 27(40−27)
KR 21=
40−1
1− [40(70.14 ) ]
40 27 ( 13 )
¿
39
1−
[40 ( 70.14 ) ]
351
¿ 1.03 1− [ 2 805.60 ]
= 1.03 (1 – 0.1251)
= 1.03 (0.8749)
KR21 = 0.90

Name of Professor: Ava Clare Marie O. Robles, Ph.D. Subject: Assessment in Learning 1 (CPE 105)
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Analysis:
The reliability coefficient using KR-21 formula is 0.90 which means that the
test has a very high reliability. Meaning the test is very good for a classroom
test.

k ∑ pq
KR 20 =
k−1(1− 2
s )
Steps in Solving the Reliability Coefficient Using KR-20
1. Solve the difficulty index of each item (p).
n
p =
N , where
n = number of students got the correct answer in each item
N = number of students who answered each item
q=1-p
2. Solve the value of q in each item.
3. Find the product of p and q columns.
4. Find the summation of pq.
5. Solve the variance of the scores.
6. Solve the reliability coefficient using KR-20 formula.

Example: Mr. Mark Anthony administered a 20-item true or false test for his English
IV class. Below are the scores of 40 students. Find the reliability coefficient using the
KR-20 formula and interpret the computed value, solve also the coefficient of
determination.

Item Number x p q pq x2

1 25 0.625 0.375 0.234375 625

2 36 0.9 0.1 0.09 1296
3 28 0.7 0.3 0.21 784
4 23 0.575 0.425 0.244375 529
5 25 0.625 0.375 0.234375 625
6 33 0.825 0.175 0.144375 1089
7 38 0.95 0.05 0.0475 1444
8 15 0.375 0.625 0.234375 225
9 23 0.575 0.425 0.244375 529
10 25 0.625 0.375 0.234375 625
11 36 0.9 0.1 0.09 1269
12 35 0.875 0.125 0.109375 1225
13 19 0.475 0.525 0.249375 361
14 39 0.975 0.025 0.024375 1521
15 28 0.7 0.3 0.21 784
16 33 0.825 0.175 0.144375 1089
17 19 0.475 0.525 0.249375 361
18 37 0.925 0.075 0.069375 1369
19 36 0.9 0.1 0.09 1296
20 25 0.625 0.375 0.234375 625
578 3.38875 17698

Name of Professor: Ava Clare Marie O. Robles, Ph.D. Subject: Assessment in Learning 1 (CPE 105)
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25
p of item 1 = 40 = 0.625

q of item 1 = 1 – 0.625 = 0.375

pq of item 1 = (0.625) (0.375) = 0.234375

(continue the same procedure up to the last item)

Solve the variance of the score

n ( Σ x 2 )−( Σ x ) 2
s =
2
n ( n−1 )
n = number of items
Σ x 2 = summation of the square of (x)
Σ x = summation (x)

n ( Σ x 2 )−( Σ x ) 2
s2 = n ( n−1 )

20 (17 698 )−( 578 ) 2

s2 = 20 ( 19 )

353 960−33 408 420

s2 = 380
19 876
= 380
s2 = 52. 3053
s2 = 52.31

Solve the reliability coefficient using the KR-20 formula

k ∑ pq
KR 20 =
k−1 (
1− 2
s )
20 3.38875
KR 20=
20−1
1− (
52.31 )
20
KR 20 = ( 1−0.06478)
19

20
KR 20 = ( 0.93522)
19

20
KR 20= ( 1.05263 ) ( 0.93522 )
19
KR20 = 0.9844
KR20 = 0.98

Interpretation:

Name of Professor: Ava Clare Marie O. Robles, Ph.D. Subject: Assessment in Learning 1 (CPE 105)
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The reliability coefficient using the KR20 = 0.98 means that it has a very high
reliability or excellent reliability.

Coefficient determination = (0.98)2

= 0.9604
= 96.04%
Interpretation:
96.04% of the variance in the students’ performance can be attributed to the
test.

Interpreting Reliability Coefficient based from Haladyna (1997)

1. The group variability will affect the size of the reliability coefficient. Higher
coefficient results from heterogeneous groups than from the homogeneous
group. As group variability increases, reliability goes up.
2. Scoring reliability limits test score reliability. It tests are scored unreliable,
error is introduced. This will limit the reliability of the test scores.
3. Test length affects test some reliability. As the length increases, the test’s
reliability tends to go up.
4. Item difficulty affects test score reliability. As test items become very easy or
very hard, the test’s reliability goes down.

Ice Breaker: 2. Brainstorm Race

Reference:

American Educational Research Association. (1999). Standards for educational and psychological testing.
Washington, D.C.: Author.
Gabuyo,Yonardo (2012). Assessment in Learning 1
Haladyna, T. M. (1997). Writing test items to evaluate higher order thinking. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn &
Bacon.
Kuder, G. F. & Richardson, M. W. (1937). The theory of estimation of test reliability. Psychometrika, 2, 151-
160.

Prepared by:
Ma. Carla Jen T. Duque
Kristal Amor S. Estrada
Jethro A. Dellomes

Name of Professor: Ava Clare Marie O. Robles, Ph.D. Subject: Assessment in Learning 1 (CPE 105)