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Educational Measurement and Evaluation

Notes 4. Write the test item so that it is free from nonfunctional material. Material not directly relevant to the
problem being presented increases the reading load and may detract from the intent of the
item. Use extraneous material only where its detection is part of the task (e.g., in math problems).
5. Write the test item so that irrelevant factors do not prevent an informed student from responding
correctly. Avoid trick questions that might cause a knowledgeable student to focus on the
wrong aspect of the task. Use clear, unambiguous statements that maximize the performance
to be measured and minimize all other influences. For example, word problems measuring
mathematical reasoning should keep reading level and computational demands simple if an
uncontaminated measure of reasoning ability is desired.
6. Write the test item so that irrelevant clues do not enable the uninformed student to respond correctly.
Removing unwanted dues from test items requires alertness during item writing and reviewing
the items after setting them aside for a while. The most common clues for each item type will
be considered in the following chapters. It is also important to prevent the information given
in one item from providing an answer to another item in the test.
7. Write the test item so that the difficulty level matches the intent of the learning competence, the age
group to be tested, and the use to be made of the results. When difficulty is altered to obtain a wide
spread of test scores, check to be certain that the added difficulty is relevant to the intended
learning competence and that the item is free from sources of irrelevant difficulty (e.g., obscure
materials, overly fine discriminations).
8. Write the test item so that there is no disagreement concerning answer. Typically the answer should
be one that experts would agree is to correct or best answer. Most problems arise here when
students are to provide the best answer (best procedure, best explanation). This involves a rm
ter of judgment and to be defensible the answer must be clearly best identified as such by
experts in the area. Where experts disagree, it may 1 desirable to ask what a particular authority
would consider to be the be method, the best reason, and the like. When attributed to a source,
the answer, can be judged as correct or incorrect.
9. Write the test items for enough in advance that they can be later reviewed and modified as needed. A
good time to write test items is shortly after the material has been taught, while the questions
and context are still clearl in mind. In any event, reviewing and editing items after they have
been SE aside for a while can detect flaws that were inadvertently introduced during the
original item writing.
10. Write more test items than called for by the test plan. This will enable you to discard weak or
inappropriate items during item review, and make easier to match the final set of items to the
test specifications.
Self Assessment

1. Fill in the blanks :
(i) _______ are standardized tests that aim to determine person’s _______ level.
(ii) The first step in planning a test is Construct a _______ .
(iii) The _______ is a three dimensional chart which shows the placement of each question in
respect of objective and the contact area.

(iv) Taxonomy of Educational objectives is also known as _______ .

5.5 Planning for Multiple Choice Test

A content valid test measures what it is intended to measure — the content as represented by the
test blueprint. A reliable test yields the same scores over repeated administrations. A test that is not
reliable cannot be valid. To ensure that tests are both valid and reliable, adequate planning and

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