EDU 4O2, TEST MEASUREMENT AND EVALUATION

Course lecturers: Dr. Mustafa, Dr. Mrs. Imoh and others.

2015/2016

COURSE OUTLINE

1. Nature and scope of test, measurement and evaluation

2. Common classification of test

3. Essay achievement test items: nature, advantages, disadvantages and guideline for
construction

4. Objective achievement test items: nature, advantages, disadvantages and guidelines for
construction

5. Procedure for construction of teacher need achievement test

6. Administration and scoring of classroom achievement test

Take a classroom test [first test]

7. Test assessment 1

8. Test assessment 2

9. Item analysis

10. Continuous assessment

11. Reporting of achievement test scores using raw scores, percentages, database and
percentile graphs

12. Reporting of achievement scores using staniles and standard scores

13. Ethical issues in test and measurement

 14. Revision and examination.

What is a test?

A test is an instrument for measuring performance in school subjects.

A test is stimuli presented to the testees and which they are expected to respond to either in
writing, verbally or through performance.

What is measurement?

Measurement is a process of assigning numerical values to observed characteristics.

When we measure, for example we can say 5 over 10, 20%, 30%, 50 over 70, and 2 over 4
etcetera.

What is assessment?

Assessment is a process of determining the value or worth of something. Assessment

involves the collection of information about the student’s knowledge, skills and attitudes as well
as judgement, interpretation and plan action. In education, assessment can be said to have
occurred whenever a teacher or a tester in some kind of interaction direct or indirect with
students or testees is conscious of obtaining and interpreting information about the knowledge
and understanding, abilities and attitudes of the students.

What is evaluation?

Evaluation is simply an attempt to identify and explain the effect and effectiveness of
teaching. Evaluation as defined by Ebel [1972] is a judgement of merit, sometimes based solely
on measurement such as those provided by test scores but more frequently involving the
synthesis of various measurements, critical incidence, subjective impression and other kinds of
evident.

Education evaluation is the systematic process of determining the effectiveness of educational

endeavours in the light of evidence. The evidence is provided by test, measurement and
assessment.

USES OF TEST TO THE SCHOOL SYSTEM

The school system is made up of all the stakeholders; the teacher, student, parents, government
etc.

STUDENT:

1. Test is used for placement

2. It provides feedback to the student

3. Through test the student will know his or her strength and weakness.

4. Test motivates the student to learn.

5. Test is used to communicate the teacher’s goal

6. Test is used for advancement from one level to another.

TO THE TEACHER:

1. The teacher uses test to know the strength and weakness of the students.

2. The teacher uses test to know the entry point of students.

3. It also provide teacher with feedback.

4. Test helps to improve instructional strategy.

5. Test is used to identify or diagnose learning problem.

 6. Teacher can use test for selection and placement.

TO PARENTS:

1. It provides feedback to parents for their investment.

2. Parent can also know the strength and weakness of their children and wards through test.

TO THE SCHOOL:

1. For classification and placement.

2. For taking important decision; students can be promoted or withdrawn.

3. Test provides information on the strength of the program.

TO THE RESEARCHER:

1. Test is used to carry out research to find out important development and to advance the
course of education.

TO GUIDANCE COUNSELOR:

1. It provides information for counselling purpose.

Social implications of testing

These are both positive and negative:

Negative:

1. Creation of social class: classes such as 1 st class, 2nd class and even dropout are all
effects of testing.

2. Stigmatisation: people are stigmatized for failing a particular test.

3. Malpractice: people cheat during test in order to pass and meet up to the required
standard.
 4. Creation of psychological pressure: people react to examinations in various ways;
some become hostile, others fall sick etcetera.

Positive:

Improvement of status: education changes one’s social status, this is determined through testing.

CLASSIFICATION OF TEST

There are various ways we can classify test, some of which are below:

1. Classification according to purpose of the test.

2. Method of construction.

3. Method of administration of the test.

4. Mode of response.

5. Mode of interpretation.

6. Classification according to time limit of the test.

7. According to mode of scoring.

Classification according to purpose:

a. Achievement test: this is a test that is given by the classroom teacher in order to find out
the extend to which students or testees have mastered the course content: this test
measures the present achievement of the students; testing the current knowledge e.g. end
of semester exams, classroom test, WAEC, NECO etcetera

b. Aptitude test: these are test given to find out what someone can do in the future; they are
futuristic. In aptitude test there is no course content e.g. job aptitude test, admission
aptitude test etcetera.
 c. Diagnostic test: this is meant to diagnose learning difficulties and deficiencies of a group
of students e.g. JSSCE for placement.

Classification of test based on method of administration:

a. Group test: this involves administration of test to students in group e.g. end of semester
exams, WAEC, NECO, etc.

b. Individual test: this is when test is administered to students on individual basis e.g.
project defence.

Classification according to method of interpretation:

a. Criterion referenced test: this requires students’ performance in relation to pre-

determined level (criteria) of some learning outcome. It is used to test mastery after some
instructional process to find out how much learning has taken place.

b. Norm reference test: this compares student’s performance to others in the group and uses
the result to classify or group students in remedial or gifted programs and for instructions.
For example a student could perform better than 70% in the class, pronounce vowel
sounds better than 45% of his or her classmates etc.

Classification according to mode of constthruction:

a. Teacher made test: the teacher made test is that test that is constructed by the classroom
teacher for a certain category of students or testees to measure their performance in a
certain subject area, there is no trial testing e.g. end of the term exams, end of semester
exams, classroom test etc.

b. Standardized test: this is the test that is not designed or constructed by the classroom
teacher but by an external body e.g. WAEC, NECO, JAMB, NAPTEC, common entrance
 examinations etc. It takes five years to standardize a test, and it must pass through
process. The major difference between the teacher made test and standardized test is the
trial testing.

Classification based on mode of respond:

a. Essay test: this is the kind of test that give students freedom of response, opportunities to
express themselves and to select, organise, integrate, synthesize and present ideas on their
own.

b. Objective test: this requires testees to supply one or two numbers, symbols, formulae or
norms. Select the correct option from the list of alternatives.

FORMS OF TEST

1. Project/assignment:

2. Close book testing: this is to measure what the students know; students are not
allowed to come in to the test with any material.

3. Open book testing: this is not interested in what the students know but how
well they can organise the materials. In this type of testing, students are
allowed to open or consult as much materials as they can during the test.

4. Speed testing: this is interested in what student can do within a given time;
how much the student can cover in a short time.

5. Power testing: this is interested in what the student can cover, timing is not
important in this type of testing.

OBJECTIVE ACHIEVEMENT TEST ITEM

 Objective test are well structured test items that require testees to supply a word or two, a
symbol, formulae, numbers or to select the correct answer from a list of options. There are two
broad types of objective test items: the supply type items or the selection type items.

1. Supply type objective items: these require testees to provide correct short answers to
direct questions or to complete sentences with missing words. There are also two types
of supply items which are the direct question type and the completion type.

a. The direct question type requires testees to provide answers in the form of a word,
phrase, number or symbol to a given statement e.g. when did Nigeria got her
independence?

b. The completion type item is where incomplete sentences are given to testees to fill in the
blanks with the appropriate words, symbols, phases, number etc. E.g. Nigeria became
republic in the year -----, the three types of rock are igneous, sedimentary and ----

2. Selection type objective items: these require testees to select the answer from a
limited number of options or alternatives. There are three types of selection items which
are: alternative/response (true/false) items, matching items and multiple choice items.

A. Alternative/response (true/false) items; these contain a list of statements where testees

are to have true/false, right/wrong, correct/incorrect, yes/no, agree/disagree etc. They
measure simple learning outcomes and testee’s ability to identify correctness of
statements or definitions, facts, ideas and principles that are completely true or false. E.g.
respiration is the breathing in of oxygen true or false. Chlorophyll is the green colouring
material in plant true or false.

Advantages of true or false items

1. They are easy to construct.

2. Easy to score by all.

3. They are useful in covering a large number of topics in the curriculum.

 4. They can measure understanding, interpretation and application if properly
designed.

Disadvantages of alternative response items

1. They are highly prone to guessing.

2. They cannot measure complex learning outcomes that require critical thinking.

3. They do not encourage divergent thinking, creativity and originality.

4. They promote cheating as testees tend to mark only true/false.

5. They have low reliability due to guessing.

6. They are not useful for diagnostic purposes.

c. Matching type items: these are made up of two sets of related materials usually given in
two parallel colons where there is a match, the testees are require to match the elements
in one colon with the elements in the other colon. The items on the left hand side are the
sterns while those on the right are the premise. These may be in the form of books and
author, events and dates, animals and their young ones, cause and effects, states and
capital, inventions and inventors etc.

Advantages of matching items

1. They are easy to construct.

2. They are easy to score by all.

3. They can measure simple learning outcome easily.

4. They are useful for assessing factual information, definitions, knowledge of

terms, events, dates etc.

Disadvantages of matching items

 1. They are limited to measurement of factual information that requires
association and rote learning.

2. Item generation is difficult and may lead to measuring irrelevant learning

outcomes.

3. They encourage guessing if items from the stem are the same with that of the
premise.

d. Multiple choice items: this is the most acceptable type of objective test item because it is
more flexible and measures both simple and complex learning outcomes. It is of two
parts; the stem and the options or alternatives. It requires testees to read the stem and the
options carefully and select the correct key or answer. The correct option is known as the
answer or key while the incorrect options are the distracters. The stem is given either in
question or statement form e.g. which of these instruments is used to measure visual
acuity?

a. Audiometer

b. Snellen chart

c. Flip chart

d. Thermometer

Incomplete item such as; the instrument used for measuring visual acuity is ----

Advantages of multiple items

1. They are widely used to measure achievement.

2. They measure both simple and complex learning outcomes.

3. They minimize correct guessing, thereby increase item reliability.

 4. They are useful in diagnosing factual errors and misconceptions based on content
selection.

5. They allow a wider coverage of content and objectives due to large number of items
require which promote content validity.

6. They are relatively free from the testees response set.

7. Their scoring is more authentic than the supply type items.

8. They can be easily scored using machine or unskilled person.

Disadvantages

1. They measure more of verbal labelled learning outcome rather than testee’s
ability as found in real life.

2. They cannot measure testees’ ability to organize, integrate, synthesise and

present ideas or answers in their own way.

3. They are difficult to construct and costly in terms of materials.

GUIDELINES FOR WRITING MULTIPLE CHOICE ITEMS

The following guidelines should be followed when constructing the items:

1. Make sure you use the correct test answer format.

2. Avoid the use of options such as all of the above, none of the above, only A and B are
correct etc.

3. Formulate the items vertically not horizontally.

4. Ensure that the items are edited and they undergo item revisions.

5. Use good grammar, spellings and punctuations.

6. Minimize reading time for testees when writing each item.

 7. Avoid trickish items that mislead or deceive testees.

The following should also be observed concerning contents:

1. Each item should be from instruction objective.

2. Avoid bias item; items that are gender sensitive, religious based, political or language
based.

3. Each item should address a problem.

4. Item should be independent.

5. Use vocabulary at testees’ level.

6. Set items that will measure critical thinking.

7. The item should be of moderate difficulty.

ESSAY ACHIEVEMENT TEST ITEMS

These are tests that require testees to compose their answers and present them orally or in
writing. They allow testees to generate, select, organize, integrate, synthesize and present
answers in their own way.

Characteristics of essay items

1. Testees are required to compose their answers and not to select from a list of options.

2. Testees are challenged to respond in more than one sentence.

3. They allow tester to judge the accuracy and quality of answers testees give.

4. They allow testees to more original by presenting answers the way they understand them.

5. They review the thinking and content used in responding to the items.
Types of essay item

Essays are of two broad types base on freedom of response given to testee. The two
broad categories are: the extended or free response items and the restricted or close items.

Extended response essay items: These types of essay items give a wide range of freedom to
testees in responding to the test items, there is no restriction on the number points to
discuss or present. There are useful for measuring students’ ability to synthesise and
evaluate writing skills for example; describe in detail the achievement of the administration
of President Jonathan in Nigeria. Identify the characteristics of living things. Compare
and contrast the process of increasing productivity and improving quality in industry.

Restricted response essay items: these are the type of essays that place a limit on both the
content and form of responses required. They put some controls on the scope and content
through the topic and the form of items asked. Restricted essays are useful measures for
interpreting and applying ideas in specific areas. For example give any five differences between
female voice and male voice, describe four characteristics of land tenure system of agriculture in
Nigeria and identify any four preventive measures of blindness in Nigeria.

Advantages of essay items

1. They can assess higher order thinking skills more effectively than other types of tests.

2. They measure testees’ thinking and reasoning skills thereby reviewing areas testees have
difficulty still.

3. They provide authentic experiences since they are closer to real life situation.

4. They are easy to construct as few items are required.

5. They are useful in testing writing skills such as grammar, spellings, punctuations,
organizations etc.

6. They encourage testees to be original, creative and authentic in their responses.

7. They help minimize guessing and cheating.

 8. They enhance remembering of facts and ideas.

Disadvantages

1. It is prone to marker’s prejudice.

2. They assess a limited content and objectives thereby reducing content validity of test.

3. They are difficult and time consuming to score.

4. They encourage poor writing skills due to haste.

5. Scoring of essays is highly subjective and unreliable.

6. Essay items allow bluffing and writing skills to influence testees’ score.

7. They have limited diagnostic function as misconceptions and errors are not easily
identified.

8. Testees spend more time writing than thinking.

Guidelines for construction of essay items

1. Defined clearly what is to be assessed by each item.

2. Produce items that elicit and challenge students’ response.

3. Set questions with intended learning outcomes that are better assessed using essay items.

4. Set large number of items that require shorter answers.

5. State clear direction, specify what to be done and the time limit.

6. Avoid giving optional items.

7. Defined clearly the purpose of the test.

8. Specify if spellings and punctuations will be considered.

9. State clearly the time limit and weight for each item.
 10. Critically review the items by comparing the expected responses to the prepared marking
scheme.

11. Evaluate testees’ scripts anonymously to avoid hallo effect.

12. Review testees’ responses after administering the test.

13. Assemble the items by reviewing, editing and arranging the items from simple to
complex.

PROCEDURE FOR CONSTRUCTION OF TEACHER MADE ACHIEVEMENT TEST

Teacher made achievement tests are tests designed by classroom teachers to find out the
extent to which learning has taken place, they test to assess the level of mastery of content
areas students have been exposed to.

Steps to be adopted in developing classroom test

1. Determine the purpose of the test.

2. Outline the topics to be covered by the test.

3. Outline the behavioural objectives.

4. Develop a table of specifications.

5. Select appropriate item format.

6. Construct relevant test items.

7. Assemble the test items.

 Determine the purpose of the test: a test may serve for placement, formative, diagnostic
and summative purposes:

- Placement purpose; placement tests are given to find out the learning readiness of
learners, they serve as a guide for decision about learners and instruction.
- Formative test; they are used during instructional process to monitor learning process and
to improve on students’ learning. They serve as a guide on the next learning content to
engage in.

- Diagnostic test; these are meant to identify and remedy areas students have difficulties,
they also identify problems of learning which formative test could not address itself.

- Summative tests; they are given at the end of a unit, course, term, semester, year or
program to evaluate how effective the instructional process has been, and to also satisfy
whether students have mastered the content areas covered. Determining the purpose of
the test guides the teacher on what to include in the test item.

 Outline the topics to be covered by the test: this refers to the topics the teacher has taught
in the class, the teacher should weigh each topic according to its importance considering
the time and effort devoted in teaching them and the number of periods spent in teaching
each topic.

 Outline the instructional objectives: these are the intended learning outcome of
instruction that guide the teaching-learning and evaluation process. The teacher should
outline these objectives and analyse them based on their difficulty level according to
Bloom’s taxonomy of cognitive level of objectives. These cognitive objectives are six
and they employ the use of action verbs to determine the level of difficulty of the task,
the levels are; knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation.
Assign words to each level of objective by determining the number of instructional
objectives at each cognitive level, to indicate their importance during the instructional
process and the age of learners, the unit weight to add up to 100%.

 Develop a table of specifications: this refers to a two-way chart that shows the
topics/contents and the instructional objectives to be assessed. It is a building plan also
known as a test blue print, it relates the instructional objectives to the topics or contents
specifying the proportion of items to construct on each content and level of objectives.
This can be on a topic, a unit, a term, a year or a whole program. A table of
specifications enables the teacher to assess all topics and objectives covered during
 instruction, it also ensures that adequate attention is given to these topics and objectives
to ensure the content validity of the test.

Procedure for developing a table of specifications

1. Prepare a two-way grid.

2. Write out the cognitive objectives across the table in colons.

3. List the topics or content by the left hand side of the table in rolls.

4. Indicate the proportion of items in percentages to be allocated to each content area and
level of objectives which will sum up to 100%.

5. Decide on the number of items to make up the test.

6. Calculate the total number of items for each colon and roll in their percentages.

7. Add up the grand total.

8. Compute the number of item to each cell, taking into consideration the colon and roll
total. This is done by multiplying the weight of each content or topic by the
corresponding level of objectives and by the total number of items.

 Select appropriate item format: the teacher should decide on the type of test item that
will best measure each content area and level of objectives using the test blue print
already prepared. This could be essay and objective items, restricted essay and multiple
type items are all effective test items. Teacher should ensure that the type of items used
is suitable for testing the intended learning outcome or behavioural objectives.

Guidelines for determining the use of essay or objective test items

1. Consider the action verbs used in the intended learning outcome; this is because, it is the
action verbs that indicate what students should exhibit to show that mastering has taken
place.

2. Assessing students’ ability to recall or remember is best achieved in multiple test items.
 3. Assessing students’ understanding of content area and higher order thinking can be
achieved in both essay and objective items.

4. Assessing students’ ability to construct their own answers are best achieved using essay
items.

5. The teacher’s choice of a test format should depend on their skill in writing each type of
items, resources and time for marking the scripts.

 Construct the relevant test items: the table of specifications should guide the writing and
selection of items. There are guidelines to consider for each item format:

 Assemble the test items: the teacher or test developer should review, edit and arrange the
items and should also prepare a clear direction for the test and produce the final copy.

ADMINISTRATION AND SCORING OF TEST

Assessing the quality and quantity of learning has been and will continue to be a regular
practice within every school system. It requires teachers to set, administer, score and grade
examinations to establish the extent to which learning has taken place. assessment enables
teachers to meaningfully observe and compare kinds of behaviour learners acquire during
instructional processes. In giving test, teachers need to strive to obtain valid result for decision
making, it requires teachers to ensure that students’ performance relect similar grades when
obtained at different times and scored by different grader.

The atmosphere test administration operates and the attitudes they display in the testing room or
in the exam hall in performing their duties should inspire confidence in the examinees. They
need to guard against factors such as cheating, test anxiety, poor testing conditions and errors in
test scorinng procedures which invalidate test result. These demands make it obligatory to learn
the principles and practices of test administration in other to provide valid and reliable test result
for proper decision making.
PRINCIPLES OF TEST ADMINISTRATION

Test administration is a process of interaction between the examinees, the examiner and the
testing situations. The most important principle guiding the administration of classroom test is to
avail all examinees a fair chance to demonstrate the extent of their achievement of intended
learning outcomes. The physical and psychological environment of the examination room has
to be condusive for examinees to facilitate the achievement of the desired outcome, therefore the
three important factors to be considered in administration of test are: the nature of examiner, the
physical condition of testing place and the behaviour of testees.

Physical condition of testing place:

1. The testing room should be well arranged with adequate temperature, lighting and space.

2. The environment should be free from interruptions and noise.

3. The sitting arrangement should allow adequate space for each testee for free movement
and proper supervision.

Nature of examiner: It is the responsibility of the examiner to ensure that the testing exercise
run smoothly. They need to effectively manage the period of testing before, during and after the
test.

Before the test:

1. Take the test yourself or ask a colleague to write the test.

2. Take an inventory of test materials such as the answer sheets, spare pen, calculator etc.

3. Ensure a proper security of the testing materials.

4. Arrange for invigilators who know the examinees.

5. Inform students of the necessary materials needed in the testing room.

6. Sequentially number the test facilities.

7. Put on examination notices at the testing place to avoid external disturbances.

 8. Make adequate preparation for candidates with special needs.

9. Notify parents and examinees of the exam date well in advance.

10. Teach test taking skills such as test wiseness and good study habit to students.

11. Employ competent and expert in the field to administer the exam.

During the test:

1. Ensure that the instructions you give are accurate.

2. Establish good rapport with the students.

3. Do not allow use of walkman or sharing of exam materials in the exam hall.

4. Ensure that you randomly assign seats to students.

5. Periodically walk round the examination hall to check and discourage cheating.

6. Check on studemts’ ID to avoid impersonation.

7. Build positive attitudes towards testing in students to reduce test anxiety.

8. Use qualified and trusted persons as invigilators.

9. Do not allow students with self phones, alarm watches and pagers into examination hall.

10. Inform students on testing progress like time spent and time left.

11. Collect materials systematically and verify the the answer sheets are collected from each
testee.

After the test:

1. Collect and account for all test materials immediately.

2. Count the candidate’s sheets to ensure that it corresponds with the attendant list.

Expected examinee’s behaviour: the examinees on their part are expected to possess and
exhibit some behaviours in the testing process, this is to help guide against some factors that
affect test administration and scoring such as students test taking skills, test anxiety and
examination malpractice. Students therefore be giving training on how to take a test from the
beginning as they prepare for the test to the final submission of their test scripts.

Before the test:

1. Organize your notes using acronyms but do not memorise.

2. Go through samples of past questions to get yourself familiar with the teacher’s nature of
questioning.

3. Rest well and maintain good health habit.

4. Prepare well in advance for the test.

5. Get all necessary materials ready.

6. Be at the examination venue on time.

7. Do not read into the examination hall.

During the test:

1. Listen to and carefully read the instruction.

2. Follow the instructions properly.

3. Find out the duration of the test to enable adequately distribute time to the test items.

4. Find out if there are penalties for wrong answers, gramma, punctuations or spelling
errors.

5. Read the questions severally before selecting that to answer.

6. Find out from the instructions if a given question is compulsory.

7. Plan well how best to respond before answering essay items.

8. Attempt easy items first before difficult ones.

 9. Ensure that your writing is legible and neat.

10. Wnsure that you attempt the required number of items for the test.

11. Read through your answers before submission if time permits.

12. Make sure you write your mat number correctly.

13. Do not engage in examination malpractice.

After the test:

1. Submit your answer script in the right place.

2. Do not discuss what you wrote with your class mates until after the whole examination.

3. Avoid lamenting on question you did not write well.

TEST ANXIETY

Test anxiety is a psychological condition in which people experience extreme distress and
worry in testing situation. It refers to a situation where one feel so nervous that he or she blank
out the answers even to easy questions in an examination. Test anxiety sets in mostly where
there is pressure on good performance.

Manifestations of test anxiety:

1. Rapid heart bit.

2. Clammy hands.

3. Feeling ancious and shakiness.

4. Feeling you cannot remember what you have read.

5. Sweating.

6. Headache and even stomach pain.

 7. Tensed muscles.

8. Wanting to have more time to read.

9. Feeling of nosier; some people feel they want to vomit.

10. Feeling faint.

11. Feeling of aggression and frustration.

12. Lack of focus on test.

Causes of test anxiety:

1. Feeling one may perform poorly in the test.

2. How others will view you if you perform poorly.

3. High expectation for one self.

4. Feeling you have not studied well.

5. Procrastination and last minute cramming.

6. Experiencing low grade for the first time.

7. Emphasis on outcome of the test.

How to manage test anxiety:

1. Give yourself enough time at least one week early to review your notes.

2. Feel free to ask your lecturer questions about the format, time limit etc for the test.

3. Make a list of contents for the test from books, sample test, handout etc and write down
definitions, formulae and key facts.

4. Pay attention to areas which more time is spent on during instruction.

5. Do not procrastinate but develop good studying habit.

 6. Set and answer questions for yourself.
plan and budget your time.

EXAMINATION MALPRACTICE

1. Disclosing content of the exam before the exam.

2. Invigilator rendering unauthorized help to the students.

3. Circulation of worked answers.

4. Selling and buying of exam questions.

5. Copying people’s work with or without permission.

6. Smuggling sheet of paper or note book or even test book into the exam hall.

7. Impersonation during exam.

8. Writing on your palm, hankachieve or any part of your body.

9. Intimidating the examiner during or after exam.

10. Exchange of answer booklets during the exam.

QUALITIES OF A GOOD TEST

Validity of a test:

Validity of a test is the estent to which a test measures what it claims to measure. It deals
with correctness of what is been measured. Strictly speking, validity of a test deals with the use
and interpreatation of a test result

FORMS OF VALIDITY
A. Face validity: this is the extent to which a test appears to be measuring what it claims to
measure. A test lacks face validity when the finishing is not fine; not ligible and readable
and when it does not reflect what was been taught in the classroom. Face validity cannot
be determined by the examiner.

B. Content validity:

Content validity is the extent to which the test items are representative of the content area
of interest. A test is said to have content validity when the test items are drawn from all
the topics covered in the class. Every class achievement test and every other
measurement instrument must have its content validity determined.

Content validity is not determined through calculation, rather it is determined through the
judgement of experts in that field. You must give the experts the basis upon which the
judgement can be made; in research, the experts must look at your topic, purpose of
study, research questions and hypothesis. In achievement test; you must give the experts
your table of specifications or test blue print.

Procedure for determination of content validity

1. State the topics and the objectives to be covered.

2. You weigh the topics and the objectives base on the time spent and emphasis laid on
them while teaching in the class. You use period on your table of specifications to
determine the time spent and emphasis laid.

3. Prepare a table of specifications.

4. Write the test items.

5. Subject the items to the scrutiny of experts.

6. Using feedback from the expers you reconstruct the items that are not correct.

C. criterion related validity:

 criterion related validity addresses issues of extent to which a testee’s score on a test can
be used to estimate his or her score on another test. It is when the performance of an
individual on one test can be used to predict his or her performance on another test. The
first test score which is used to predict the second test is called the predictor, while the
second test that can be estimated by the predictor is called the criterion measure.

There are two forms of criterion related validity:

1. Concurrent validity: is the extent to which a student’s current score on a test can
estimate his current score on another test. For example; a teacher who is interested in
finding out if performance of students in mathematics can predict their performance
in physics; the teacher will construct both maths and physics test at the same time and
administer mathematics, then administer physics immediately after, he can now score
the two tests and correlate.

2. Predictive validity: is the extent to which testees’ score on a test can predict their
performance on another test that will be written in future. Example; the predictive
validity of mock examination on the performance of students in WAEC. This validity
can be determined for aptitude test.

The difference between the above two validity is the time involved in getting the criterion
measure.

D. Construct validity:

The word “construct” is a quality that can be used to explain some aspects of behaviour.
These are psychological construct for example; attitude, interest, self concept, aptitudes,
resilience and other variables within the affective domain.

Construct validity is the extent to which test scores can be interpreated in terms of some
psychological constructs. There are three ways to determine construct validity:

i. The correlational method; for example you are working on self concept, you
administer your instrument along side with an already developed instrument and
correlate to determine if your instrument is actually measuring self concept.
 ii. Group difference method; identify those who possess the construct you are
interested in and those who do not possess the construct for example attitudes of
students toward mathematics. Separate the groups and administer the test an
compare the mean score.

iii. Factor analysis method; this is a complex one usually you run with computer. It
tells you the items that you are measuring.

FACTORS THAT AFFECT THE VALIDITY OF A TEST

These factors can be found in the test or in the testing and scoring situations.

In the test:

i. Ambiguity; if the items are ambiguous.

ii. Unclear direction;if the direction on how the test should be written is not clear for
example if there is a compulsory question and it is not clearly stated.

iii. The length of the test; longer test are better than shorter ones; essay questions most
times lack content validity unlike objective questions.

iv. When the deys or correct answers in objective items arranged following a pattern.

In testing situation:

i. When the physical environment is not condusive.

ii. The emotion of the testee can affect validity of the test.

iii. Guessing or provision of clues invalidate the result.

iv. Scoring mistakes can invalidate the test result.

USEABILITY OF A TEST
This is when a test can be use by the teacher, school authority etc without undue expenditure of
time, energy and money.

A test is useable to a testee when the testee can understand and complete the test without
experiencing stress and fatigue.

Useability of test considers the ease of scoring, the ease of administration, the ease of
constructing, the ease of making the test available etc.

When is the test useable?

The test is useable when the teacher can construct the test, administer the test, score the test,
interpreat the test and use the result of the test with ease.

OBJECTIVITY OF A TEST

This is the extent to which the test does not give room for the introduction of the scorer’s
prejudice and feelings. Objective tests are good because they are devoid of the scorer’s prejudice
and feelings, but essay tests are subjective.

How do you measure objectivity of a test?

This is done by testing the experts in that field; when you construct the test, administer it two to
or more experts in that area, after they have written the test, you score it and find their mean
score on each item; if the mean score on an item is up to 90% and above then it is objective.