Discrimination and Difficulty Indices of a Senior High School Entrance Examination Using Classical Test Theory

Jeffrey Imer  Salim,

Discrimination and Difficulty Indices of a Senior High School Entrance Examination Using Classical Test Theory

Discipline: Education

Abstract:

Measurement of the psychological capacities of a person is done worldwide through the use of achievement testing. It is thereby important that the institution that uses achievement tests create correct, relevant and reliable test constructs in order to come up with the beneficial results. This study was done to evaluate the Discrimination and Difficulty Indices of the Annual Senior High School Entrance Examination, which consists of 75 English, 30 Science, 40 Mathematics, and 25 Aptitude multiple-choice questions, of the Senior High School Department of Mindanao State University - Tawi-Tawi College of Technology and Oceanography using the Classical Test Theory. Descriptive quantitative design was employed and raw data from the scored answer sheet of 200 examinees was utilized. Stratified sampling was applied to the raw data. Then, a computer application, Statistical Program for Social Sciences (SPSS), was employed to determine the discrimination and difficulty indices. The study concluded that the most of multiple-choice items of the examination have difficulty values less than 0.5, which means these items are difficult for the takers, and discrimination values higher than 0.2 which can be considered good items. The results also implied that the test constructs are highly reliable. The study recommends further enhancement of the examination.