Specific Suggestions for Writing

Assessment Tasks and Test Items

A. Supply Type of Test
1. Word the item/s so that the required answer is both
brief and specific.
2. Do NOT take statements directly from textbook.
3. A direct question is generally MORE DESIRABLE
that an incomplete statement.
4. If the item is to be expressed in numerical units,
indicate the type of answer wanted.
5. Blanks for answers should be equal in length and
as much as possible in column to right of the
question.
6. When completion items are to be used, DO NOT
include too many blanks.
B. Selective Type of Tests
1. Alternative Response
2. Matching Type
3. Multiple Choice
4. Essay Type
Selective Type of Tests:
1. Alternative Response
a. Avoid broad, trivial statements and use of negative words
especially double negatives.
Ex. It is not uncommon nowadays that teenagers get
pregnant.
a. Avoid long and complex sentences.
b. Avoid multiple facts or including two ideas in one
statement, unless cause-effect relationship is being
measured.
c. If opinion is used, attribute it to some source unless the
ability to identify opinion is being specifically measured.
d. Use proportional number of true statements and false
statements.
e. True statements and false statements should be
approximately equal in length.
True-False
Typically written as statements, and students
must decide whether the statements are true or
false.
But there are two potential problems that may
occur…
1. Is the statement worded carefully
enough so that it can be judged without
ambiguity?

Teachers are often tempted to make such

items “tricky” so that the items will be
difficult enough for intermediate or advanced
language students.
Such trickiness should be avoided…

Students should miss an item because they

don’t know the concept or have the skill
being tested rather than the item is tricky
2. Have “absoluteness” clues been
avoided?
Absoluteness clues – allow students to answer correctly
without knowing the correct response.
Ex.
This book is always crystal clear in all its explanations.
T F

Include terms like all, never, rarely, most often,

Answers are inevitably false
Selective Type of Tests:
2. Matching Type
 Matching Type

Matching item premise Options

(information found at (found at the right-hand
the left column) column)
Perfect Matching Type – the number of premises in
Column A is LESS THAN THE NUMBER of
responses in Column B. The response could only be used
ONCE.
Example:
In Column A are popular descriptions of Presidents during
their term of office. Match them with the names of
Presidents in Column B.
Column A (Premise) Column B ( Responses)
1. Ramon Magsaysay a. Man of the Massess
2. Carlos P. Garcia b. People Power President
3. Corazon Aquino c. Filipino First Policy
d. Champions of First Land Reform
Imperfect Matching Type . The number of premises in Column
A is not equal to the number of the responses in Column B, or the
other way around. The response or the premise can be used
more than once.
Example:
In column A are names of well-known curriculum evaluators. Match
them with the evaluation models they have been identified with in
Column B. You can use the letter once or more than once.
Column A (Premise) Column B ( Responses)
1. Consumer Oriented Model A. Michael Scriven
2. Responsive Model B. Daniel Stufflebean
3. Goal Free Model C. Robert Stake
4. Phi Delta Kappa Model D. Ralph Tyler
5. CIPP Model
Are there more options than
premises?
Why?
Students can’t narrow down the choices as they
progress through the test simply by keeping
track of the options that they have already used.
Are the options shorter than the
premises to reduce reading?
Why?
Most students will read a premise then search
through the options for the correct match.
By controlling the length of the options, the
amount of reading will be minimized …
Are the options and premise lists
related to one central theme?
MIXING DIFFERENT THEMES (heterogeneous)
in one set of matching items is NOT A GOOD IDEA
because it may confuse the students and cause them to
miss items that they would otherwise answer correctly.

For example, LINING UP DEFINITIONS and the

related VOCABULARY ITEMS is a good idea.

Mixing in matches between graphemic and phonemic

representations of words would only cause confusions.
 Selective Type of Tests:
2. Matching Type
1. Use only homogeneous material in a single matching
exercise.
2. Include an unequal number of responses and premises
and instruct the pupil that responses may be used once, more
than once or not at all.
3. Keep the list of items to be matched brief, and place the
shorter responses at the right.
4. Arrange the list of responses in logical order.
5. Indicate in the directions the basis for matching the
responses and premises.
6. Place all the items for one matching exercise on the same
page.
7. Limit a matching exercise to not more than 10 -15 items.
Selective Type of Tests:
3. Multiple Choice
Made up of:
1. item stem, or the main part of the item at the
top,
2. a correct item, which is obviously the choice
that will be counted correct
3. distracters, which are those choices that will
be counted as incorrect
“options” – refer collectively to all the alternative
choices presented to the students
Have all unintentional clues been
avoided?
Unintentional clues – grammatical, phonological,
morphological – that help students to answer an item
without having the knowledge or skill being tested

The fruit that Adam ate in the Bible was a/an ___.
a. pear b. banana c. apple d. papaya
Are all distracters plausible?
Adam ate ______.
a. an apple b. a banana
c. an apricot d. a tire

Brown’s law:
“When writing four-option multiple-choice items, the
stem and correct option are easy to write, the next
two distracters are relatively easy to make up, as
well, but the last distracter is absolutely
impossible.”
Has needless redundancy been avoided
in the options?

The boy was on his way to the store, walking

down the street, when he stepped on a piece
of cold wet ice and _____.
a. fell flat on his face
b. fall flat on his face
c. felled flat on his face
d. falled flat on his face
 The boy stepped on a piece of ice and ____
flat on his face.
a. fell
b. fall
c. felled
d. falled
Has the ordering of the options been
carefully considered? Or are the correct
answers randomly assigned?
Any test writer may unconsciously
introduce a pattern into the test that will help
the students who are guessing to increase the
probability of answering an item correctly.
 Since testers want to
maximize the likelihood that
students answer items
correctly because they know
the concepts being tested,
they generally avoid
patterns that can help
students guess.
Have distracters like ‘none of the above” , “A
and B only,” etc. been avoided?

Advised to avoid these type of options

unless the specific purpose of the item is to
test two things at a time and students’
abilities to interpret such combinations
Selective Type of Tests:
3. Multiple Choice
1. The stem of the item should be meaningful by itself and
should present a definite problem.
2. The item should include as much of the item as possible
and should be free from irrelevant material.
3. Use a negatively stated stem only when significant
learning outcomes require it and stress/highlight the
negative words for emphasis
4. All the alternatives should be grammatically consistent
with the stem of the item.
5. An item should only contain one correct or clearly best
answer
6. Items used to measure understanding should contain
some novelty, but beware of too much
7. All distracters should be plausible/attractive.
8. The relative length of the alternatives/options
should not provide a clue to the answer.
9. The correct answer should appear in each of the
alternative positions and approximately equal
number of times but in random order.
10. Use of special alternatives such as “none of the
above” or “all of the above” should be done
sparingly.
11. Always have the stem and alternatives on the same
page.
Selective Type of Tests:
4. Essay Type
1. Restrict the use of essay questions to those learning outcomes
that cannot be satisfactorily measured by objective items.
2. Construct question that will call forth the skills specified in
the learning standards.
3. Phrase each questions so that the students’ task is clearly
defined or indicated.
4. Avoid the use of optional questions.
5. Indicate the approximate time limit or the number of points
for each question.
6. Prepare an outline of the expected answer in advance or
scoring rubric.
Be Patient in evaluating test items…
In return you will reap success!
QUALITIES/CHARACTERISTICS
HIUUUYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
DESIRED IN AN ASSESMENT
INSTRUMENT
E

Major characteristics
A.Validity- the degree to which a test measures what it is
supposed or intends to measure. It is the usefulness of a
test for a given purpose. It is the most important
quality/characteristics desired in an assessment instrument
B. Reliability- refers to the consistency of measurement that
is how consistent test scores or other assessment results
are from one measurement to another. It is the most
important characteristics of an assessment instrument next
to validity
Minor Characteristics
C. Administrability- the test should be easy to administer such
that the directions should clearly indicate how student should
respond to the test/task items and how much time should he/she
spend for each test item or for the whole test.
D. Scoreability- the test should be easy to score such directions
for scoring are clear/points for each correct answers is/are
specified.
E. Interpretability- test scores can easily be interpreted and
described in terms of the specific tasks that a student can
perform or his/her relative position in a clearly defined group.
F. Economy- he test should be given in a cheapest way in terms of
time and efforts spent for administration of the test and answer
sheets must be provided so the test can be given from time to
time.
 Levels or Scale of Measurement

Level/Scale Characteristics Example

1. Nominal * Merely aims to identify or label a Numbers carried on the backs of

class or variable the athletes
2. Ordinal * Numbers are used to express Oliver ranked 1st in his class
ranks or to denote position in the while donna 2nd
ordering
3. interval •Assumes equal intervals or Fahrenheit and Centigrade
•Distances between any two starting measures of temperature
at an arbitrary zero * Zero point does not mean an
absolute absence of warmth or
cold or zero in the test does not
mean complete absence of
learning.
4. Ratio * Has all the characteristics of the Height, weight
interval scale except that it has an * A zero weight means no
absolute zero point weight at all
 Shapes, Distribution and Dispersion of Data

A.Symmetrically Shaped Test Scores Distributions

1. Normal Distribution or Bell Shaped curve
2. Rectangular Distribution
3. U-shaped curve
B. Skewed distributions of test Scores
1. Positively Skewed Distribution (mean>median>mode)
2. Negatively Skewed Distribution (mode>median>mean)
C. Unimodal, Bimodal, and Multimodal Distribution of scores
1. Unimodal distribution- one most common score
2. Bimodal distribution- two most common scores
3. Multimodal distribution- more than two mot common scores
D. Width and Location of Score Distributions
1. Narrow, Tall Distributions: Homogeneous, Low
Performance
2. Narrow Tall Distributions: Homogeneous, High
Performance
3. Wide, short Distributions: Heterogeneous Performance
E. Types of Kurtosis Curve
1. Leptokurtic Curve
2. Mesokurtic curve
3. Platykurtic curve
 Descriptive Statistics
Descriptive Statistics- the first step in data analysis to describe, or summarize the
data using descriptive statistics.

Descriptive statistics
I. Measures of Central Tendency
- Numerical values which describe the average or
typical performance of given group in terms When to use and Characteristics
of certain attributes
a. Mean Arithmetic average, used when the distribution is
normal/symmetrical or bell-shaped.
Most reliable/stable

b. Median Point in distribution above and below which are 50% of

the scores/cases;
Midpoint of a Distribution;
Used when the distribution is awakened
c. Mode Most frequent/common score in distribution;
Opposite of the mean, unreliable/unstable
Used as quick description in terms of average/typical
performance of the group.
II. Measures of Variability
-numerical values which describe the
average or typical performance of given
group in terms of certain attributes.
a. Range
b. Standard deviation
c. Quartile Deviation or Semi-inter Quartile
Range
When to use and characteristics
II. Measures of Variability
-indicate or describes how spread the scores are. The
larger the measure of variability the more spread the
scores are and the group is said to be heterogeneous; the
smaller the less spread the scores are and the group is
said to be homogeneous
The counterpart of the mean , used also when
distribution is normal or symmetrical; Reliable/stable
and so widely used.
Defined as one half the of the difference between
quartile 3 (75th percentile) and quartile 1 (25%
percentile) in a distribution;
Counterpart of the median;
Used also when the distribution is awakened
III. Measure of relationship
-describe the degree of relationship or
correlation between two variables (academic When to use and Characteristics
achievement and motivation). It is expressed
in terms of correlation coefficient from -1 to 0
to 1.

a. Pearson Most appropriate measure of correlation when

sets of data are interval or ratio type;
Most stable measure of correlation;
Used when the relationship between the two
variables is a linear one.

b. Spearman-rank-order Correlation or Most appropriate measure of correlation when

Spearman rho variable are expressed as ranks instead of scores
or when the data represent an ordinal scale.
IV. Measure of relative Position
-Indicate where a score is in relation to all When to use and Characteristics
other scores in the distribution ; they make t
possible to compare the performance of an
individual on two or more diffe3rent tests.

a. Percentile ranks Indicates the percentage scores that fall below a

given score;
Appropriate for data representing o0rdinal scale,
although frequently computed for interval data.
Thus, the median of a set scores corresponds to
the 50tyh percentile.

b. Standard scores A measure of relative position which is

appropriate when the data represents an interval
or ratio scale;
A z score expresses how far score is from the
mean in terms of standard deviation units;
allows all scores from different tests to be
compared;
In cases of negative values z scores to T scores
(Multiply Z score by 10 plus 50.)
c. Stanine scores Standard scores that tell the location of a
raw score in a specific segment in a normal
distribution which is divided into 9
segments, numbered from a low of 1
through a high of 9 ;
Scores falling within the boundaries of these
segments are assigned one of these 9
numbers (standard nine)

d. T-scores Tells the location of a score in a normal

distribution having a mean of 50m and a
standard deviation of 10.
How to Compute Mean for Ungrouped data

Example:
Add all the scores then divide by the X1 =10, X2 = 12, X3 = 15, X4 = 18 & X5 =
number of cases. 20
X1 + X2 + X3 + X4 +
X = X5
N
= 10 + 12 + 15 + 18 + 20
5

= 75 = 15 or X = ΣX = 75 = 15
5 N 5
How to Compute Mean for grouped Data?

Steps: Example:
1.Given a frequency distribution, (1) (2) (3)
enter in column 2 the midpoint of Class f x fx
each interval and this are interval
designated by X. 45-49 1 47 47
2.Multiply these X values by its 40-44 2 42 84
corresponding f (frequency) 35-39 3 37 111
3.Write the product in column 3 30-34 6 32 192
4.Add the value in column 3 and 25-29 8 27 216
divide the sum by the number of 20-24 17 22 374
cases (N) to obtain the mean. 15-19 26 17 442
10-14 11 12 132
5-9 2 7 14

N= 76 Σ fx = 1612

1612
X = = 21.21
76
How to Compute Median for Ungrouped Data?

Steps: Example:

1.Arranged the scores in order from lowest to 10, 12, 18, 20, 15
highest, for odd number of scores, the median thus 10, 12, 15, 18, 20 the median
is the middle score is 15 the middle score.

2. If the number scores/causes is an even

number, the median is the point halfway Example 2:
between the two middle scores. 21, 24, 24, 25, 26, 30
Median is 24.5 the average of the two
middle scores 24 and 25.
How to Compute Median for Grouped data?
Steps: Example:
1.record/ compute the cumulative (1) (2)
frequencies (cf) as shown in columns 2.
2.Divide N of 76 by 2 Class interval
N Or taking 50 f Cf
2 45-49 1 76
Percent of it gives 38 cases. Hence we 40-44 2 75
are interested in finding that point in the 35-39 3 73
distribution with 38 cases above and 30-34 6 70
below it. 25-29 8 64
20-24 17 56
3. Find the class interval in which the 15-19 26 39
middle case falls, and determine the 10-14 11 13
exact limits of this interval. 5-9 2 2

4. Interpolate to find the value on the N= 76

scale above and below where one- half For the student who has difficulty in
of the total number of cases falls. This following the steps, a simple formula may be
is the median. employed.
(50% ofN-cf
Median LL + i
f
Where:
LL = exact lower limit if the class interval containing the median in which we are
interpolating
Cf = cumulative frequency below the class interval in which we are interpolating
F = frequency of class interval containing the median in which we are interpolating
N = number of classes
I = interval size

In the present example LL = 14.5, cf= 13, f=26, N=76 and I = 5. We then have

Median = 14.5 + 38-13 (5) =19.31

26
How to compute Mode?
 The mode is not established through calculations;
 It is determined by looking at a set scores or at a graph of scores and
seeing which score occurs most frequently
Consider the observations

17 11 13 15 16 12 17 15 13 15
14 11 12 18 13 13 1 16 14 16
Here,. The value 13 occurs five times, more frequently then any other
value. Hence, the mode is 13.

Mode for Grouped Data

With data grouped in the form of frequency distribution, the mode is
taken as the midpoint of the class interval with the largest or highest
frequency. For example, the mode of our grouped data (we used for mean
and median) is 17 the midpoint of the class interval 15-19.
Interpretation of Measures of Central tendency
• Given any value (mean, median, or mode) it is the point on
the scale around which scores tend to group.
• It is the average or typical score which represents a given
group of pupils/ students.
• Given two or more values of central tendency one can define
who performed bad, good, better, or best.
MEASURES OF VARIABILITY
although measures of central tendency are very useful
statistics for describing a set of data, they are not sufficient. Two
sets of data that are different can have identical means or medians.
As an example, consider the following sets of data:

SET A: 79 79 79 80 81 81 81
SET B: 50 60 70 80 90 100 100
The mean of both sets of scores is 80 and the median of
both is also 80, but set A is very different from set B. In set A, the
scores are all very close together and clustered around the mean.
In set B, the scores are much more spread out, in other words,
there is much more variation or variability in set B.
What is Range?
Range is simply difference between the highest score and the lowest score
in a distribution p0lus one.
Range = HS – LS + 1
Example 1:
80, 79, 81, 79, 81, 81, 79

Range = HS – LS + 1
=81 -79 + 1
=3

Example 2:
100, 80, 50, 70, 60, 90, 110

Range = 110 – 50 + 1
= 61

Interpretation: If the range is small the scores are also together whereas
if the range is large, the scores are more spread out.
How to Compute standard Deviation for Ungrouped Data:
Steps: Example:
1.First compute the mean
∑X Scores:
X=
N x x
2. Compute the deviation of each x²
score from the mean 20 8
x= X – X 64
Where: 18 6
x= the deviation of a 36
score from the mean 16 4
x= a raw score 16
x= the mean 14 2
3. Square each of these deviations
4
and add this column. A check of our
work would be that the sum of the 12 0
deviations about the mean should be 0
zero. 10 -2
4
4. To find the standard deviation e use the
following formula and substitute in it as
shown. SD= _____
240 = _____
240 = 26.67
Note: In some texts the formula form the 10-1 9
standard deviation is gin as:

SD = ∑x² SD= 5.16

N- 1

When using this formula , one is actually

correcting the sample standard deviation
for bias.
How to compute standard Deviation for Grouped Data?
The computation of the standard deviation will be illustrated by using
the grouped data used for the computation of mean and median.

Steps: Example:
1. Add a new column, 4, (1) (2) (3) (4)
headed fX². Class
2. Multiply each value in Interval
column 3 by the corresponding
value in column 2 to obtain the
fX² for each row as
47 x 47 = 2209
84 x 42 = 3528
111 x 37 = 4107
And so on
3. Sum the FX² column
4. Then substitute values in the
following equation:

SD= ∑FX²
- x²
N