Colegio de San Gabriel Arcangel

City of San Jose del Monte, Bulacan

College of Education

Program Bachelor of Elementary/Secondary Education

Course Code PROED 9
Description Assessment of student Learning I

LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEET NO. 5

Name ________________________________________________ Score _________________

Date ________________________________________________ Section _________________

Topic Item Analysis and Options Analysis

Learning 1. Explain the meaning and purposes of item analysis;

Objectives 2. Discuss the meaning of item difficulty index and item discrimination index;
3. Compute the difficulty index of a test item/question;
4. Compute the discrimination index of a test item; and
5. Follow the criteria in interpreting the difficulty index and discrimination index of a test item/question.
6. Discuss the purpose of option analysis
.
References Navarro, Rosita L; Santos, Rosita G; & Corpuz, Brenda B. (2017), Assessment of Learning I (3rd
Ed):Lorimar Publishing Inc. Quezon City, Philippines
Reganit, Arnulfo Aaron R; Elicay, Ronaldo SP; & Laguerta, Cresencia C. (2010) Assessment of Learning
I: C & E Publishing , Inc. Quezon City, Philippines.
Cajigal Ronan M. and Mantuano, Maria Leflor D. (2014)). Assessment of Learning 2: Adriana Publishing
C., Inc. Manila & Quezon City, Philippines.

Discussion
Item analysis is applicable to test formulas that require students to choose the correct or best answer from the
given choices. Therefore, the multiple choice test is mot amenable to item analysis. Examinations that greatly influence
the students’ course grades, like midterms and final examinations, or serve other important decision-making functions
should be free from deceptive, ambiguous items as much as possible. Unfortunately, it is often difficult to recognize
problems before the test has been administered.
Item analysis procedures allow teachers to discover items that are ambiguous, irrelevant, too easy or difficult, and
non-discriminating. The same procedures can also enhance the technical quality of an examination by pointing out
options that are non-functional and should be improved or eliminated. Another purpose of item analysis is to facilitate
classroom instruction. In diagnostic testing, for example, item analysis identifies the areas of a student’s weakness,
providing information for specific instruction.

Index of Difficulty (Df)

Index of difficulty (Df) tells how easy or difficult is the item or question. The difficulty index (Df) of an item is
described as the number of students who are able to answer the item correctly, and divided by the total number of
students who took the test. Below are the steps in processing the difficulty index of each item:
(a) Check the test papers of all takers of the test;
(b) Count the total number of test papers already checked to get the total number of cases (N);
(c) Count the number of students who answered correctly each item to get the small n;
(d) Divide the n by the N to get the difficulty index of each item. Formula: Df = n/N
(e) Interpret the obtained difficulty index (Ds) per item based on the criteria on evaluating item difficulty index.

Interpreting Index of Difficulty of an Item

Range of Difficulty Index (Df) Interpretation Action Taken

0.00 to 0.20 Very Difficult Item Discard/Reject the Item
0.21 to 0.40 Difficult Item Accept / Retain the Item
o.41 to 0.60 Moderately difficult Item Accept / Retain the Item
0.61 to 0.80 Easy Item Accept / Retain the Item
0.81 and above Very Easy Item Discard / Reject the Item

Example: Evaluation of Items based on Difficulty Index.

N=50
Item No. N n Df Interpretation Action Taken
1 50 40 0.80 Easy Item Accept / Retain the Item
2 50 34 0.68 Easy Item Accept / Retain the Item
3 50 30 0.60 Easy Item Accept / Retain the Item
4 50 25 0.50 Easy Item Accept / Retain the Item
5 50 27 0.54 Easy Item Accept / Retain the Item
6 50 5 0.10 Very Difficult Item Revise or discard the Item
Note: N - Stands for the number 40 of students who took the test; n stands for the number of students
who answered the item correctly; and Df stands for difficulty index per item.
Index of Discrimination(Ds)
The term index of discrimination (Ds) refers to the power of an item to identify outstanding students, above
average, average, below average or poor performing ones. Below are the procedures in processing the discrimination
index of each item.
1. Arrange the checked test papers from highest score to lowest score;
2. Multiply the total number of test papers (N) by 25% or .25) to get the upper group (UG) and lower group (LG)
Example: N=50 x .25 = 12.5 or 13, hence the UG =13 and LG=13, separately;
3. Construct a Table where to record and organize the obtained data. See example of Table below;
4. Among the 13 test papers from the upper group, count how many answered correctly each item and
record this on the table under the column n of upper group (UG);
5. Among the 13 test papers from the lower group, count how many answered correctly each item to get the n
and record this on the table under the column n of lower group (LG);
6. From the upper group, divide the n by the N of UG to get the UG df;
7. From the lower group, divide the n by the N of LG to get the LG df;
8. Subtract the UGdf by the LGdf to get the discrimination index of each item (Formula: Ds=UGdf - LGdf); and
9. Interpret the obtained discrimination (Ds) of each item using the criteria below.

Criteria on the Interpretation of Discrimination Index of an Item

Discrimination Index Range Interpretation Action Taken
-1.00 to -0.60 Questionable Item (very bad item) Discard / Reject
-0.59 to -0.20 Not Discriminating (bad item) Discard / Reject
-0.19 to 0.20 Moderately Discriminating (slightly good) Discard or Revise
0.21 to 0.60 Discriminating (Good item) Accept / Retain
0.61 to 1.00 Very Discriminating (Good item) Accept / Retain

Example: Evaluation of Items based on Discrimination Index Prototype

N=50
Item UG = 25% or LG = 25% or
No. N=13 N=13 Ds Interpretation Action Taken
n UGdf n LGdf
1 13 1.00 12 0.92 0.08 Moderately Discriminating Discard / revise
2 10 0.77 8 0.62 0.15 Moderately Discriminating Discard / revise
3 9 0.69 2 0.15 0.54 Discriminating Accept / retain
4 11 0.85 5 0.38 0.47 Discriminating Accept / retain
5 13 1.00 6 0.46 0.54 Discriminating Accept / retain
6 5 0.38 6 0.46 - 0.08 Moderately Discriminating Discard / revise
Note: UG -Upper Group of 25%, LG=Lower Group of 25% , Df- difficulty Index, Ds – discrimination Index, N- Number
of students who belong to UG or LG, n - Number of students who answered correctly the item.

Option Analysis
To reiterate, multiple choice tests have 3 to 5 options/choices/alternatives. The options are categorized into two:
(a) key or correct answer and (b) distracters / decoys or the wrong answers. In option analysis, both key and distracters
are to be evaluated to determine if they are good / acceptable or not. The obtained frequency and percentage of choices
per key or distracter is interpreted according to its corresponding criteria. Do not forget to indicate an asterisk for the key
or correct answer. Below are procedures in conducting option analysis.
1. Count all the test papers that choose Option A, Option B, Option C and Option D of each item.
2. Compute the percentage of choices per option of each item. See the formula below.
Percent of choices = F/N

Where: F- frequency of choices or number of students who choose the option

N – Number of students who took the test

3. Follow the criteria below in interpreting the key (correct answer) and interpreting the distracter (wrong
answer).of each item.
Criteria in Evaluating each Option per Item

Kind of Option F and % Interpretation Decision

Key > all distracters Good key Accept the key
1. Key Key < a distracter Bad key Revise the key
All distracters are < key Good distracters Accept all distracters
2. Distracter 1 distracter > key Bad distracter Revise distracter
2 distracters > key Bad distracters Reject the distracters
F/% of distracter is < 3% of N Very bad distracter Reject the distracter

Example: Evaluation of Options based on Option Analysis Prototype

(N=50)
Frequency and Percent of Choices per Option Interpretation
Item A B C D Action
No. F % F % F % F % Key Distracter Taken
1 29* 58 11 22 5 10 5 10 A- good B-good C-good D-good Accept key and all
distracters
2 1 2 10 20 30* 60 9 18 C-good A--bad B-good D-good Accept but revise
distracter A
Note: The total frequencies of all options per item is equal to the N. The total percent of all options per option is equal to 100%
Review Exercises

Complete Table A and Table B below.

Table A: Evaluation of Items based on Difficulty Index Prototype

N=55
Item No. N n Df Interpretation Action Taken
1 55 54
2 55 46
3 55 23
4 55 16
5 55 10

Table B: Evaluation of Items based on discrimination Index

N=55
Item UG = 25% or LG = 25% or
No. N=14 N=14 Ds Interpretation Action Taken
n UGdf n LGdf
1 14 12
2 10 7
3 9 7
4 13 9
5 5 7

Test Activity

On a separate sheet of paper, complete the Table below using your own arbitrary figures (frequency) per
box, considering that the total N = 45. Pass your hard copy to your group leader.

A. Evaluation of Options based on Item Analysis Prototype

Frequency and Percent of Choices per Option Interpretation

Item A B C D Action
No. F % F % F % F % Key Distracter Taken

B. Explain why each process of item analysis can improve the quality of the test.

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

Prepared by:

JULIETA E. SICLON
Professor