1.Write the item so that the answer Poor: Four and 6 are factors of 24.

Yes No
options are consistent with the logic in Good: Four and 6 are factors of 24.
the sentence. Correct Incorrect

2.Focus on a single fact or idea in the Poor: T F Right to suffrage is given to

item (Adding more than one idea in the citizens in a democratic country in order
statement can make the item to enjoy economic gains.
ambiguous. One idea may be correct Good: T F Citizens in a democratic society
and the other one, incorrect) have the right of suffrage.

3.Avoid long sentences ( Unnecessarily long Poor: T F Criterion- referenced tests are
and wordy statements obscure the signifi- interpreted based on a standard that
cant ideas. determines whether students have
reached an acceptable level or not.
2.MULTIPLE –CHOICE ITEMS

 Another selected-response item format

 Aside from being able to assess various

outcome levels , they are easy to score, less
susceptible to guessing than alternate-choice
and more familiar to students as they often
encounter them in different testing events.
(Musial, et.al 2009).
 Multiple Choice Item Structure
Stimulus Response
STEM –
a. An interrogative statement Option to be selected is the
or direct question that ends correct answer or best
in a question mark. answer.

b. Incomplete statement Letter or numeral of the

selected option
Illustrative Items
1.Direct questions form
(best answer version)

What form of a government

is ruled by a Prime
Minister?
a.Monarchy
b.Parliamentary
c.Presidential
d.Federal
 Distracters
1.All distracters should appear plausible to
uninformed test takers. This is the key to
making the item discriminating and therefore
valid.
Poor:
What is matter?
A. Everything that surrounds us
B. All things bright and beautiful
C. Things we see and hear
D. Anything that occupies space and has mass
1.Use the students most common error. 6. Use distracters that are homogenous
and similar in content to the correct
option.

2.Use important sounding words that are 7.Use distracters that are parallel in form
relevant to the item stem. But do not and grammatically consistent with the
overdo it. item stem.

3.Use words that have verbal associations 8. Make the distracters similar to the
with the item stem (e.g. politician,political) correct answer in length, vocabulary.
Sentence structure, and complexity of
thought.

4.Use textbook language or other CAUTION: Distracters should distract the

phraseology that has the appearance of uninformed, but they should not result in
truth. trick questions that mislead
knowledgeable students.

5.Use incorrect answer that are likely to

result from student misunderstanding or
carelessness.
2.Randomly assign correct answers to alternative
positions. Item writers have a tendency to
assign the correct answer to the third
alternative as they run short of incorrect
alternatives.

3.Avoid using ‘All-of-the-above’ as distracters.Item

writers think that using them adds difficulty to
the items since it is a way to test reasoning
ability.
3.MATCHING ITEMS

 It’s appear differently.

 Consists of two parallel lists of words or
phrases the students are tasked to pair.
 List of Premises List of Responses

Words or phrases to be matched or Homogenous alternatives or

options
associated with an appropriate word. from which to select what will
match
the premises.

Illustrative Item 1
Column A Column B
____1.First president of the republic a. Ramon Magsaysay
____2.Declared martial law during his B .Corazon Aquino
term C. Gloria Macapagal -Arroyo
____3.First president to resign from D .Manuel L..Quezon
office E .Fidel Ramos
____4.First woman president F. Emilio Aguinaldo
____5.Died in an airplane crash G .Joseph Ejercito Estrada
H. Manuel A.Roxas
I.Ferdinand Marcos
 Illustrative Item 2. (for advanced level)

Column A Column B
___1.Large scale features of the A .Dark matter theory
universe do not hange over time. b. Dansity wave theory
___2.About 90% of the matter in the c. Superdense theory
universe does not interact with D .Infinite worlds theory
radiation. e. Galactic rotation theory
___3.The spiral arms in galaxies f. Inflationary universe theory
cannot be permanent condensations of g. Planetisimal theory
matters. h. Ptolemaic theory
___4.The planets describe closed orbits i. Steady-state theory
about the Earth.
___5.Planets were formed from small
solid bodies caused by eruptions of
stars.
1.Keep the list of premises and the list of options
homogenous or belonging to a category.
2.Keep the premises always in the first column
and the options in the second column.
3.Keep the lists in the two columns unequal in
number.
4.Test directions always describe the basis for
matching.
5.Keep the number of premises not more than
eight(8) as shown in the two sample items.
6.Ambigous lists should be avoided.