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For example: 1.
Who was the first United States astronaut to orbit the earth in space?
a. Scott Carpenter b. John Glenn c. Virgil Grissom The multiple choices item can measure a variety of learning
outcomes from simple to complex, and it is adaptable to most type of subject matter content.
C. Categories of a Good Test
Based on Nourman E. Gronlund in his book; Measurement and Evaluation in Teaching, he said that, “The most essential of characteristics a
good test can be classified into three main aspects, they are: Validity,
reliability, and practically.
1. Validity
J.B. Heaton says, “ The validity of a test is the extent to which it measures what it is supposed to measure and nothing else.”
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The validity of a test must be considered in measurement in this case there must be seen whether the test used really measures what are
supposed to measure, briefly. The validity of a test is the extent to which the test measures what is extended to measure. there are four types
validity: a. Face Validity
Face validity means the way the best looks to the testiest, teachers, moderator, and administrator. Therefore. It is useful to show a test to
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J.b. Heaton, Writing English Language Test Longman, 1998, p. 153
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colleagues or friends in order to discover obsurdities and ambiguities of a test.
b. Content Validity Content validity is concerned with the materials that the students
have learned. The test should cover samples of the teaching materials given. To fullfil this teacher should refer his consideration to the
teaching syllabus. J. B. Heaton says, “ Content validity depends on careful analysis of
the language being tested and of the farticular course objectives, the test should be so constructed as to certain a representative sample of the
course.”
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c. Construct Validity
Construct validity deals with construct and underlying theory of the language learning and testing.
J. B. Heaton stated, “ If the test has construct validity it is capable of measuring certain specific characteristics in accordance with a theory
of language and behavior and learning.”
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d. Empirical Validity
There are two kinds of empirical validity; they are concurrent validity and predictive validity which depend on whether the test scores
are correlated with subsequent or concurrent criterion measures. If we use a test of English as a second language to screen university
applicants and than correlate test score s with grade s made at the end of the first semester, we are attempting to determine predictive validity of
the test. On the other hand, we follow up the test immediately by having an English teacher rate each student’s English proficiency on the basis
of his class performance during the first week and correlate the two
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J. B. Heaton, Writing, Writing English Language Test, Longman: 1998, p. 154- 155
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J. B. Heaton, Writing..., pp. 154- 155
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measures, we are seeking to establish the concurrent validity of the test.
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2. Reliability
A test should be reliable as a measuring instrument. A test cannot measure anything well unless it measures consistently. According to J.
Charles Anderson Claphan and Diannae Wall, “ A test cannot be valid unless it is reliable.”
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3. Practically
The third characteristics of a good test is practically or usability in the preparation of a new test. The teacher must keep in mind a number of very
practical considerations which involves economy, ease of administration , scoring and interpretation of result.
Economy means the test is not costly. The teacher must take into account the cost per copy, how many scores will be needed. for the more
personnel who must be involved in giving and scoring a test, the more costly the process becomes. How long the administering and scoring of it
will take, choosing a short test rather than longer one. Ease of administration and sccoring means that the test administrator
can perform his task quickly and efficiently. We must also consider the ease with which the test can be administrated.
Ease of interpretation and aplication J. B. Heaton states,” The final point concerns the presentation of the test paper it self.”
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Where possible, it should be printed or type written and appear neat, tidy and aesthetically pleasing. Nothing is worst and more disconcerting to
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J. B. Heaton, Writing ..., pp. 154- 155
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J. Charles Anderson Claphan and Dianne Wall, Language Test Construction and Evaluation British : Cambridge University Press, 1995, p. 187
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J. B. Heaton, Writing English Language Test, Longman, 1998, p. 156
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the testiest than untidy test paper, full of miss spellings, omissions, and corrections. “if it happens, it will be easy for the students or testiest are
easy to interpret the test items.”
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Beside having a good criteria, the other characteristics of the test that’s more important and specific is the quality of the test items. To know
the quality of the test items, teachers should use a method called item analysis.
D. Item Analysis
