Discrimination Index is the power of the item to discriminate the students between those who scored high an

those who scored low in the overall test. In other words, it is the item’s ability to distinguish between those who know
the lesson and those who do not know the lesson.
Types of Discrimination Index
1. Positive discrimination
2. Negative discrimination
3. Zero discrimination
Level of Discrimination Index
Range of Index of Discrimination Level
-1.00 to -0.01 Questionable Item
0.00 No Discriminating Power
0.01 – 0.19 Very Low Discriminating Power
0.20 – 0.40 Low Discriminating Power
0.41 – 0.60 Moderately Discriminating Power
0.61 – 1.00 Very High Discriminating Power
Note: If the discrimination index is negative, that means that the item is automatically rejected regardless of its level
of difficulty. Theo only acceptable discrimination index is from 0.20 – 1.00.
Interpretation of Difficulty and Discrimination Indices

• A good or retained item must have both acceptable indices

• A fair or revised item contains either unacceptable index.
• A poor or rejected / discarded item must possess both unacceptable indices

Index of
Difficulty Index Remarks Action
Discrimination
Acceptable Acceptable Good Retain
Acceptable Not Acceptable Fair Revise / Improve
Not Acceptable Acceptable Fair Revise / Improve
Not Acceptable Not Acceptable Poor Reject / Discard

Acceptable Difficulty Index : 0.40 – 0.60 (Moderately Difficulty)

Acceptable Discrimination Index : 0.20 – 1.00 (Low – Very High)

Steps in Item Analysis (U-L Method)

1. Arrange the scores from highest to lowest.
2. Separate the scores into upper and lower group. If a class consists of 30 students (or below) who took the
exam, divide them into two groups. The first half comprises the Upper Group (UG) and the other half is the
Lower Group (LG). If the students are more than 30, get the top 27% and the lowest 27% and named them
as the UG and the LG respectively.
3. Compute the index of difficulty for each item then describe the level of difficulty as very easy, easy, average,
difficult or very difficult. Then indicate whether it is acceptable or not.
4. Compute the index of discrimination for each item then describe its power to discriminate. Then indicate
whether it is acceptable or not.
5. Interpret the results whether the item is good, fair or poor.
 6. Indicate the necessary action if it is to be retained, revised or rejected.
Example:
Suppose a 30 – item test was given to 50 students in History class. Compute the difficulty index and index of
discrimination of the following test results. Interpret your answers and determine what actions you should take. Show
your answers in a table. The first item is done for you.

Item No. CUG CLG

1 8 3
2 9 4
3 5 1
4 10 8
5 7 8

Solution:
1. Since there are more than 30 students in the class, get the 27% of the total number of students to determine
the number of students who are included in the item analysis. Round off your answer to nearest whole
number.

27% 𝑜𝑓 50 = 0.27 × 50
= 13.5 = 𝟏𝟒
Then the UG will have 14 students and the LG will also have 14 students for a total of 28 students
will be involved in the item analysis.

2. Compute the difficulty Index and the discrimination then Interpret:

8+3 11 0.4583 Moderately Difficult
For item no. 1, we have DF = = = →
24 24 ≈ 0.46 Item; Acceptable
Note: Get only two decimal places.

3. Compute the index of discrimination

Moderately
8−3 5 0.4166
For item no. 1, we have DI = = = → Discriminating
12 12 ≈ 0.42
Power, Acceptable
Note: Get only two decimal places.

4. Since item #1 has both acceptable difficulty index and discrimination index, it is a good item and has to be
retained.

Item
CUG CLG DF Level Interpretation DI Level Interpretation Remarks Decision
No.
Moderately
1 8 3 0.46 Difficult or Acceptable 0.42 MDP Acceptable Good Retained
Average
2
3
4
5
Example:
A class is composed of 40 students. Analyze the item given the following results. Option E is the correct answer.
What will you do with the test item?

Options A B C D E*
UG 2 1 1 2 5
LG 1 1 1 8
Note: Letter with * is the correct answer.
1. 5+8 13 0.5909 Moderately Difficult
DF = = = →
22 22 ≈ 0.59 Item; Acceptable

2. 5−8 −3 -0.2727 Questionable Item,

DI = = = →
11 11 ≈ -0.27 Not Acceptable

Distracter Analysis
1. Distracter – it is the term used for the incorrect options in the multiple choice type of test while the correct
answer represents the key.
a. Factors to be considered why students failed to get the correct answer in the given question:
i. Not taught in the class properly
ii. Ambigious
iii. Correct answer is not given in the choices
iv. More than one correct answer
v. Contains grammatical clues to mislead the studetns
vi. Student is not aware of the conent
vii. Students were confused by the logic of the question because it has double negatives
viii. The student failed to study the lesson
2. Miskeyed item – it is a potential miskey if there are more students from the upper group who choose the
incorrect option than the key.
3. Guessing item – students from the upper group have equal spread of choices among the given
alternatives.
4. Ambiguous item – more students from the upper group choose equally an incorrect option and the keyed
answer.