ANALYZING AND

IMPROVING
TESTS
Three Elements in an Test
Analysis
1. Examination of the difficulty level of
the items,
2. Determination of the discriminating
power of each item, and
3. Examination of the effectiveness of
distractors in a multiple choice or
matching items.
Types of Quantitative Item
Analysis

1. Difficulty Index
2. Discrimination Index
3. Analysis of Response Options
 Difficulty Index

It refers to the proportion of the number

of students in the upper and lower
groups who answered an item correctly.

Df = n
N
Interpretation of the Difficulty
Index

Range Difficulty Level

20 & below Very Difficult

21 – 40 Difficult
41 – 60 Average
61 – 80 Easy
81 & above Very Easy
Discrimination Index
refers to the percentage of high-
scoring individuals responding
correctly versus the number of low-
scoring individuals responding
correctly to an item.

***Basis for measuring validity of an

item.
Types of Discrimination Index

1. Positive discrimination

2. Negative discrimination

3. Zero discrimination
Discrimination Index Formula

DI = CUG – CLG
D
Interpretation of the Index of
Discrimination

Range Verbal Description

.40 & above Very Good Item

.30 – .39 Good Item
.20 – .29 Fair Item
.09 – .19 Poor Item
 When should a test item be

rejected? Retained? Modified

or revised?
A test item can be retained when its level of
difficulty is average, difficult and
discriminating power is positive.

It has to rejected when it is either easy/very

easy or difficult/very difficult and its
discriminating power is negative or zero.

An item can be modified when its difficulty

level is average and its discrimination index
is negative.
Preparing Data for Item Analysis

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.
Examining Distractor Effectiveness

An ideal item is one that all students in the upper group

answer correctly and all students in the lower group
answer wrongly. And the responses of the lower group
have to be evenly distributed among the incorrect
alternatives.
Developing an Item Data File
Encourage teachers to undertake an item analysis as
often as practical

Allowing for accumulated data to be used to make

item analysis more reliable

Providing for a wider choice of item format and

objectives

Facilitating the revision of items

Facilitating the physical construction and reproduction

of the test

Accumulating a large pool of items as to allow for some

items to be shared with the students for study purposes.
Options A B* C D E

UG 3 10 4 0 3

LG 4 4 8 0 4
Analysis
a. Only 35% of the examinees got the items
correctly, hence, the item is difficult.
b. More students from UG got the item
correctly, hence, it has a positive
discrimination.
c. Retain options A, C, and E because most
of the students who did not performed
well in the overall examination selected it.
d. Conclusion: Retain the test item but
change option D, make it more realistic.
A class is composed of 50 students.
Use 27% to get the upper and the
lower groups.
Options A B C D* E

UG 3 1 2 6 2

LG 5 0 4 4 1
Analysis

a. 36% of the examinees got the

answer correctly, hence, the item is
difficult.
b. Positive discrimination.
c. Modify options B and E.
d. Retain options A and C because
they are effective distracter.
e. Conclusion: Revise/Retain the item
but modify options B and E.
Options A B C D E*

UG 2 3 2 2 5

LG 2 2 1 1 8
Analysis
a. 46 %, moderately difficult.
b. Negative discrimination.
c. No need to analyze the distracters
because the item discriminate
negatively.
d. Modify all the distracters.
e. conclusion: Reject the item.
Options A B* C D E

UG

LG
Options A B* C D E

UG

LG
Options A B* C D E

UG

LG
Item Group Answers Total No. Difficulty H–L Discrimin

of Index ation
Correct Index
A B C D
Answers

1 H 20 3 14 2 1 21 52.5 7 0.35

L 20 10 7 3 0
2 H 20 0 0 18 2 27 67.5 9 0.45

L 20 0 3 9 8
3 H 20 3 8 4 4 10 25.0 6 0.30

L 20 10 2 4 4
4 H 20 3 3 4 10 14 35.0 6 0.30

L 20 2 4 10 4
5 H 20 15 2 2 1 16 40.0 14 0.70

L 20 1 10 4 5
Limitations of Item Analysis

• It cannot be used for essay items.

• Teachers must be cautious about what damage may be
due to the table of specifications when items not meeting
the criteria are deleted from the test. These items are to
be rewritten or replaced.