CHAPTER 14
Preparing Students to Be Assessed and Using Students’ Results to Improve
Your Assessments
ITEMS
1. The scores from a teacher-made test that is poorly typed and badly organized are likely to be less
valid for student evaluation.
(a) True
(b) False
2. Why is it appropriate to group test items by type of format?
(a) It reduces the need for students to change their mind set for every item in order to answer
it.
(b) It helps differentiate students on the basis of their knowledge.
(c) It helps the teacher to determine which item format is most difficult for the students.
3. The directions on the cover page of a test booklet render any directions of a subsection of the test
redundant or unnecessary.
(a) True
(b) False
4. Suppose the directions to students on the cover page of a test booklet included the statements
below. Which of the statements is LEAST helpful to the student?
(a) Work hard throughout the test.
(b) Attempt all items; there is no penalty for guessing.
(c) Mark only one answer per item.
5. What is the advantage of arranging a test’s items from easiest to most difficult?
(a) It helps the teacher to rank students more efficiently.
(b) It reduces anxiety for those students who are prone to test anxiety.
(c) It assures that students will at least consider items whose content they know best.
(d) Both (b) and (c) are advantages.
6. What is the advantage of arranging a test’s items in the order in which the topics were covered in
class?
(a) It helps students recall information better.
(b) It is easier to write items following the topical outline.
(c) It is less likely that students will be tempted to cheat.
(d) Both (b) and (c)
7. An advantage to preparing an answer key before you administer the test to students is that you
may identify mistakes in your test items.
(a) True
(b) False
8. Classroom tests should be maximum performance assessment procedures.
(a) True
(b) False
9. Why should you inform students at the beginning of a course how much weight each assessment
component will contribute toward the final grade?
(a) The validity of the assessment results increases.
(b) The reliability of the assessment results increases.
(c) Students can align their study efforts with what the teacher considers important.
(d) Both (a) and (b)
10. Using surprise quizzes is ethical when students are misbehaving and you need to use a test to gain
some control of the class.
(a) True
(b) False
11. It is always appropriate to give students an outline of what the test will cover and emphasize.
(a) True
(b) False
12. It is appropriate to include on a test a few questions that cover material you had taught but which
you did not tell students would appear on the test as a check on whether the better students have
studied.
(a) True
(b) False
13. Teaching the types of performance and thinking students need to do well on a classroom test
increases the validity of the test results.
(a) True
(b) False
14. When is a student said to be test-wise?
(a) When the student knows all the answers to the items on a test.
(b) When a student makes use of any flaws in the items to improve his score.
(c) When a student studies diligently before taking a test.
(d) When a student copies answers to test questions from another student.
15. If your students differ greatly in their test-wiseness skills, the validity of their scores on your
classroom assessment results is likely to be lower than if they all had equal test-wiseness skills.
(a) True
(b) False
16. Which of the following assessment-crafting practices is likely to have the greatest impact on
reducing the effect of test-wiseness on test scores?
(a) Write items that use good language.
(b) Write items that are devoid of irrelevant clues and flaws.
(c) Write items that measure what the teacher has taught.
17. You have no obligation to teach students test-taking skills that might raise their marks.
(a) True
(b) False
18. What effect does worry about an upcoming test have on a student?
(a) It motivates the student to work hard.
(b) It engages the student in task-irrelevant thoughts.
(c) It makes the student angry and resistant.
19. Stanley had a marginal pass in his midterm exam. As a result, he is highly anxious about passing
the final exam. How can the teacher reduce his anxiety?
(a) Tell him that things will go well.
(b) Tell him not to worry about the exam.
(c) Tell him to concentrate only on answering the questions.
20. Which of the following teacher statements tends to lower test anxiety the most?
(a) “Concentrate on what you need to do.”
(b) “Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.”
(c) “You better be prepared because the test is difficult.”
(d) “Excuse me. I don’t mean to interrupt your test but does anyone need a sharp pencil?”
21. Sally takes a 25-item multiple-choice test under correction for guessing directions. She obtains
16 items right, 6 wrong, and omits 3 items. If each item had four options, what is Sally’s
corrected score?
(a) 10.00
(b) 13.50
(c) 14.00
(d) 16.00
(e) 16.75
22. Does applying a correction for guessing formula to a response-choice test affect the scores of
students who guess correctly?
(a) Yes
(b) No
23. Does applying a correction for guessing formula to a response-choice test affect the scores of
students who are unlucky guessers?
(a) Yes
(b) No
24. Billy takes a 30-item multiple-choice test under correction for guessing directions. He attains 20
items right, 4 wrong, and omits 6. If each item had four options, what is Billy’s adjusted score?
(a) 18.66
(b) 19.00
(c) 21.00
(d) 21.50
(e) 26.00
25. Students benefit from changing their answers to multiple-choice items when the changes are
based on thoughtful reconsideration of the item.
(a) True
(b) False
26. To what use can a teacher put the results of an item analysis of classroom tests?
(a) Help determine whether the items are functioning properly.
(b) Give feedback to students about their performance.
(c) Give feedback to the teacher about students’ difficulties.
(d) All of the above
27. Item analysis is LEAST useful for determining which of the following?
(a) The type of cognitive process students use in responding to an item
(b) Whether there is a mistake in a test key
(b) If an item is too easy or too difficult
(c) Whether more instruction is needed on particular areas of the curriculum
28. You can use simple statistical analyses to identify the major types of errors students make in
answering essay items.
(a) True
(b) False
Use the item analysis information below to answer Questions 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, and 35.
Student Groups
Item
Key
Options
Lower
Middle
1
B
A
B
C
D
3
5
4
3
2
12
4
2
Totals
15
20
2
A
A
B
C
D
12
1
2
0
4
3
3
10
Totals
15
20
3
D
A
B
C
D
3
3
3
6
2
2
2
14
Totals
15
20
29. Which item discriminates best?
(a) Item 1
(b) Item 2
(c) Item 3
30. What is the item discrimination index for Item 1?
(a) -.67
(b) .00
(c) .10
(d) .64
(e) .67
31. What is the difficulty index for Item 2?
(a) .30
(b) .32
(c) .52
(d) .80
(e) None of the above
32. Which is the easiest item?
(a) Item 1
(b) Item 2
(c) Item 3
33. Which is the poorest functioning item?
(a) Item 1
(b) Item 2
(c) Item 3
34. Which of the following is the poorest functioning distractor?
(a) Option C of Item 1
(b) Option D of Item 2
(c) Option A of Item 3
35. Which item contains ambiguous alternatives?
(a) Item 1
(b) Item 2
(c) Item 3
(d) None of the items contain ambiguous alternatives.
36. Why should you not include negatively discriminating items on a classroom test?
(a) They are biased.
(b) They are too easy.
(c) They leave a bad impression on students.
(d) They are not informative.
(e) They order students in the opposite way from the other items.
37. When evaluating the quality of a classroom test item, you should give more weight to its
discrimination index than to its difficulty index.
(a) True
(b) False
38. Where in an item analysis should you look for suggestions that the class guessed blindly on a
particular item?
(a) The lower group’s pattern of responses to the options.
(b) The middle group’s pattern of responses to the options.
(c) The upper group’s pattern of responses to the options.
(d) The total group’s pattern of responses to the options.
39. A distractor is not functioning properly if no one in the upper group selected it.
(a) True
(b) False
40. Items that are closely matched to the learning objectives may be used on classroom tests even
though they do not satisfy statistical criteria.
(a) True
(b) False
41. Suppose you want to use test scores to rank order the students. The test items assess several
different skills and abilities. What statistical properties should the items have?
(a) Difficulty indexes between .16 and .84, discrimination indexes greater than .00
(b) Difficulty indexes between .16 and .84, discrimination indexes greater than .30
(c) Difficulty indexes between .40 and .60, discrimination indexes greater than .00
(d) Difficulty indexes between .40 and .60, discrimination indexes greater than .30
42. You need not pay any attention to item analysis data if you are crafting a criterion-referenced test.
(a) True
(b) False
43. As a general rule, regardless of whether you are focusing on relative or absolute achievement,
never use items with D-values less than zero.
(a) True
(b) False
44. The most important recent technological developments for classroom testing purposes are
technological solutions to problems of
(a) item analysis of classroom tests.
(b) test scoring and reporting.
(c) accessibility for students with disabilities.
CHAPTER 14
Answers and Classification of Items