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PROF ED 7
EDUCATIONAL MEASUREMENT & EVALUATION MODULE
NO. 5

I. TITLE: ADMINISTERING, ANALYZING AND IMPROVING TESTS (CRITERION-

REFERENCED, NORM-REFERENCED & ITEM ANALYSIS)

II. INTRODUCTION

One of the most important functions of a teacher is to assess the

performance of the students. This is a very complicated task because you
will consider many activities such as timing of the assessment process, the
format of the assessment tools and the duration of the assessment
procedures.

After designing the assessment tools, package the test, administer

the test to the students, check the test papers, score and then record them,
return the test papers and then give feedback to the students regarding the
result of the test.

It is also essential to validate to determine the effectiveness of the

items thru item analysis by determining its difficulty index & discrimination
index.

III. LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of this module, you should be able to:

1. define & differentiate Norm -referenced & criterion-referenced

measures
2. define the basic concepts regarding item analysis;
3. identify the steps in improving test items;
4. solve difficulty index and discrimination index;
5. identify the level of difficulty of an item;
6. perform item analysis properly and correctly;
7. identify the item to be rejected revised or retained; and
8. interpret the results of the item analysis

IV. LEARNING CONTENT (KEY CONCEPTS)

A. CRITERION-REFERENCED & NORM-REFERENCED MEASURES

• CRITERION-REFERENCED MEASURE –a test that determines whether a

learner has reached the goals of the learning task. This task is specific,
observable, measurable and interpretable. It serves to identify on what
extent the learner’s performance has met a given criterion. It helps to
identify the high achievers rather than intelligent students or vice versa and
those who are achieving progressively at their own rate. It helps to
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indicate which child is to move to the next learning task with a fair degree of
accuracy.

• NORM-REFERENCED MEASURE – a measure which compares a student’s

performance with the performance of other learners in a class. The
comparison is made to determine how much have been performed or
achieved. It is interpreted with the use of percentile and standardized
scores to determine the relationship of group performance.

B. DISTINCTION BETWEEN CRITERION-REFERENCED (CRM) & NORM-

REFERENCED MEASURES (NRM)

o A CRM is used if the purpose is to determine how much change in

terms of behavior of the learner before and after instruction. It is the
individual performance being judged not his standing in his class.
Traditionally, in NRM, the performance of an individual is determined
by comparing his standing with the other individuals in the class.
o A CRM measures whether the learner has mastered the instructional
objective in relation to an established standard of performance. A
NRM determines the comparison of an individual with some norm
groups without knowing what one can do, has mastered or cannot
do. o A CRM depends on the absolute standard of quality which is
the only criterion to determine the significance of individual’s score.
We want to know how much the individual achieves in learning the
tasks and what he can do. NRM depends upon a relative standard of
comparing an individual with another individual using the same
measure. If the teacher wants to know the individual’s relative
standing along some scale of efficiency, then the NRM is not
applicable.
o Both CRM & NRM provide information decision-making about the
individuals. If it is necessary to determine the skills and
competencies of the learner, then CRM is used if comparison and
selection purposes are needed as to scholarships and job
placement, then NRM is used.
o CRM includes items of reasonable length either the item is answered
by all students or missed totally, since the purpose is the mastery of
the learning tasks. NRM discards the most difficult and easiest item
since the purpose is to scatter the individuals as much as possible in
order to know how one differs from another individuals.
o CRM designs content not known by students before instruction is
given, but must be mastered when instruction is given and
completed. The purpose is to evaluate quality of instruction. NRM
stresses content-recall. The more the contents are remembered by
the students the better, since the purpose is to compare the
performance in relation to the performance of the others. o In CRM,
all students learn regardless of ability level because each individual
learner is permitted to use, as much needed learning time as
possible. There is a way of identifying the weak and strong points in
the performance of an individual learner and the results of this
measure can be predictive whether the learner is ready to do the next
learning task without fair degree of accuracy. On the other hand,
NRM has no way of identifying whether slow learners can do better id
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permitted to use as much learning time needed because instructional

time is the same to all students. There is no way of predicting if the
learner is ready to do the next learning task because there is no
basis of meeting the individual student’s needs.

• ITEM ANALYSIS

ITEM ANALYSIS – is a process of examining the student’s response

to individual test item. It consists of different procedures for
assessing the quality of the test items given to the students.
Through the use of item analysis, we can identify which if the given
are good and defective test items. Good items are to be retained and
defective items are to be improved, to be revised or to be rejected.’

 TWO KINDS OF ITEM ANALYSIS

1. Quantitative Item Analysis
2. Qualitative Item Analysis

 ITEM ANALYSIS GIVES INFORMATION WHICH ARE AS FOLLOWS:

1. The difficulty of an item
2. The discriminating power of an item
3. The effectiveness of each option.

 USES OF ITEM ANALYSIS

1. Item analysis data provide a basis for efficient class discussion of
the test results.
2. Item analysis data provide a basis for remedial work.
3. Item analysis data provide a basis for general improvement of
classroom instruction.
4. Item analysis data provide a basis for increased skills in test
instructions.
5. Item analysis procedures provide a basis for constructing test
bank.

 TYPES OF QUANTITATIVE ITEM ANALYSIS

1. DIFFICULTY INDEX – refers to the proportion of the number of students in

the upper and lower groups who answered an item correctly. The larger the
proportion, the more students, who have learned the subject is measured by
the item.

𝒏
FORMULA: 𝑫𝒇 =
𝑵

Where 𝑫𝒇 - difficulty index

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n = number of students selecting item correctly in the upper

group and in the lower group.
N = total number of students who answered the test

LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY
To determine the level of difficulty of an item, find first the difficulty
index using the formula and identify the level of difficulty using the range
below:

LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY
INDEX RANGE DIFFICULTY LEVEL
0.00 – 0.20 Very Difficult
0.21 – 0.40 Difficult
0.41 – 0.60 Average/Moderately Difficult
0.61 – 0.80 Easy
0.81 – 1.00 Very Easy

The higher the value of the difficulty index, the easier the item is. Hence,
more students got the correct answer and more students mastered the content
measured by that item.

2. DISCRIMINATION INDEX – it is the power of the item to discriminate the

students between those who scored high and those who scored low in the
overall test. It is the power of the item to discriminate the students who know
the lesson and those who do not know the lesson.

- this also refers to the number of students in the upper group who got an
item correctly minus the number of students in the lower group who got an
item correctly. Divide the difference by either the number of the students in the
upper group or number of students in the lower group or get the higher number
if they are not equal.
-it is the basis of measuring the validity of an item. This index can be
interpreted as an indication of the extent to which overall knowledge of the
content area or mastery of the skills is related to the response on an item.

 TYPES OF DISCRIMINATION INDEX

1. Positive Discrimination Index – happens when more students
in the upper group got the item correctly than those students in the
lower group.
2. Negative Discrimination Index – occurs when more students
in the lower group got the item correctly than the students in the
upper group.
3. Zero Discrimination Index – happens when a number of
students in the upper group and lower group who answer the test
correctly are equal, hence, the test item cannot distinguish the
students who performed in the overall test and the students whose
performance are very poor.
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LEVEL OF DISCRIMINATION
INDEX RANGE DISCRIMINATION LEVEL
0.19 and below Poor item, should be eliminated or need to
be revised
0.20 – 0.29 Marginal item, needs some revision
0.30 – 0.39 Reasonably good item but possibly for
improvement
0.40 and above Very good item

FORMULA:

𝑫𝑰 = 𝑪 𝑼𝑮 – 𝑪𝑳𝑮
D

Where:

𝑫𝑰= discrimination index value

𝑪𝑼𝑮 = number of students selecting the correct answer in the upper

group

𝑪𝑳𝑮 = number of students selecting the correct answer in the lower

group

D = number of students in either the lower or upper group

 STEPS IN SOLVING DIFFICULTY INDEX & DISCRIMINATION INDEX

1. Arrange the scores from highest to lowest.

2. Separate the scores into upper group and lower group.

Different methods to do this:
a. if a class consists of 30 students who takes an exam, arrange their
scores from highest to lowest, then divide them into two groups. The
highest score belongs to the upper group.
b. others use 27%, 30% or 33% of the students for the upper group and
lower group.

3. Count the number of those who chose the alternatives in the upper group and
lower group for each item and record the information using the template
below:

OPTIONS A B C D E
Upper Group

Lower Group

Note: Put * for the correct answer.

4. Compute the value of the difficulty index and the discrimination index and also
the analysis of each response in the distracters.
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5. Make an analysis for each item.

 CHECKLIST FOR DISCRIMINATION INDEX

YES NO
1. Does the key discriminate positively?
2. Does the incorrect options discriminate negatively?

If the answers to questions 1 and 2 are both YES, retain the item.

If the answers to questions 1 and 2 are either YES or NO, revise the item.

If the answers to questions 1 and 2 are both NO, eliminate or reject the item.

3. ANALYSIS OF RESPONSE OPTIONS

Another way to evaluate the performance of the entire test item is through
the analysis of the response options. It is very important to examine the
performance of each option in a multiple-choice item. Through this, you can
determine whether the distracters or incorrect options are effective or attractive
to those who do not know the correct answer. The attractiveness of the incorrect
options is determined when more students in the lower group than in the upper
group choose it. Analyzing the incorrect options allows the teachers to improve
the test items so that it can be used again in the future.

DISTRACTER ANALYSIS
1. DISTRACTER – is the term used for the incorrect options in the multiple
choice type of test while the correct answer represents the key. It is very
important for the test writer to know if the distracters are effective or good
distracters. Using quantitative item analysis , we can determine if the options are
god or if the distracters are effective.

Item analysis can identify non-performing test items, but this item
seldom indicates the error or the problem in the given item. There are factors to
be considered why students failed to get the correct answer in the given
question.
a. it is not taught in the class properly
b. it is ambiguous
c. the correct answer is not in the given options
d. it has more than one correct answer
e. it contains grammatical clues to mislead the students
f. the student is not aware of the content
g. the students were confused by the logic of the question because
it has double negatives
h. the students failed to study the lesson

2. MISKEYED ITEM
The test item is a potential miskey if there are more students from
the upper group who choose the incorrect options than the key.
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3. GUESSING ITEM
Students from the upper group have equal spread of choices among
the given alternatives. Students from the upper group guess their answers
because of the following reasons:
a. the content of the test is not discussed in the class or in the text
b. the test item is very difficult
c. the question is trivial

4. AMBIGUOUS ITEM
This happens when more students from the upper group choose
equally an incorrect option and the keyed answer.

 QUALITATIVE ITEM ANALYSIS

- (Zurawski, R.M.) is a process in which the teacher or an expert carefully
proofreads the test before it is administered, to check if there are
typographical errors, to avoid grammatical clues that may lead to giving
away the correct answer, and to ensure that the level of reading materials is
appropriate. According to Cohen, Swerdlik and Smith (1992) as cited by
Zurawski, students who took the examination are asked to express verbally
their experience in answering each item in the examination. This procedure
can help the teacher in determining whether the test takers misunderstood a
certain item, and it can help also in determining why they misunderstood a
certain item.

EXAMPLES FOR ITEM ANALYSIS (Please see attached files.)

Note: Items with difficulty index within 0.26 to 0.75 and with discrimination
index from 0.20 and above are to be retained. Items with difficulty index
within 0.25 to 0.75 but with discrimination index of 0.19 and below or with
discrimination index of 0.20 and above but with difficulty index not within
0.26 to 0.75 should be revised. Items with difficulty index not within 0.26 t0
0.75 and with discrimination index of 0.19 and below should be
rejected/discarded.

VI. END OF MODULE ASSESSMENT. Google Classroom Submission:

Due date: April 11, 2021 for Sunday classes.
Due date: April 8, 2021 for TTh classes.

Answer the following on a short coupon bond.

1. In your own opinion, which is better, criterion-referenced measure or norm-
referenced measure? Why? Support your answer.
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2. A 25-item multiple choice test in Mathematics with four options was

recorded. Listed were a number of students in the lower and upper groups
who answered A, B, C and D. The letter option with an asterisk is the correct
answer.

Item 10 A B C D*
Upper Group 5 4 5 14
(27%)
Lower Group 9 8 9 2
(27%)

Based from the given table, answer the following: If computation is required, it
must be included.
a. Give the difficulty index.
b. What is the level of difficulty?
c. Indicate the discrimination index.
d. What is the discrimination level?
e. Which group got more correct answer?
f. Which of the options is the most effective?
g. which of the option/s is/are ineffective?
h. Is Item 10 a positive discrimination or a negative discrimination?
i. What can you say about options A and C? Are they effective distracters?
j. How about option B? What will you do about option B?

VII. REFERENCES
1. Gabuyo, Y.A. (2012). ASSESSMENT OF LEARNING I (Textbook and
Reviewer) (1st ed.). Rex Book Store Inc.
2. Calmorin, L. P. (2004). MEASUREMENT & EVALUATION (3 rd ed). National
Bookstore.
3. Calmorin, L. P. (2011) ASSESSMENT OF LEARNING 1. Rex Book Store, Inc.
4. LET Reviewer (PNU)