Background of the Study

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

One of the ways to know whether students have learned their lesson at school is evaluation. Evaluation is a very important aspect in teaching and learning activities. Evaluation plays an important role in some activities, especially in terms of education. Through evaluation a teacher will be able to know his or her students’ achievement on the materials that have been taught in a certain period of time, so the teacher can measure his or her teaching effectiveness which has been applied in the classroom. And the information gained through the evaluation will be very useful to make improvement in the future. A good teacher is the one who knows what to teach, how to teach as well as how to evaluate. The teacher has to evaluate students’ progress on the mastery of academic skill which is being taught. The results of evaluation give information to the teacher about the quality of their instruction and it also gives data to judge students whether they are successful or not. Kenneth D. Hopkins says: Evaluation is the process of education depends extensively on assessment and measurement and on a related procedure. 1 1 Kenneth D. Hopkins, Educational and Psychological Measurement and Evaluation, 8 th ed., Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1998 p. 6 Gronlund says in his book that: “Evaluation is the systematic process of collecting, analyzing and interpreting information to determine the extent to which pupils are achieving instructional objectives.” 2 Therefore evaluation is not the only way to judge whether something or someone is good or bad, but it also focuses on how to use the data as a means for future direction of classroom practice such as to develop the teaching and learning activities. Evaluation is defined as “The systematic gathering of information for the purpose of making decision.” 3 The more reliable and relevant the information, the better the likelihood of making the correct decision connecting with students and the instruction. Evaluation is an integral part of the instructional program. It contributes directly to the teaching and learning process. The evaluation result is useful to improve students learning by providing information to overcome learning difficulties, to assess and improve instruction by judging the appropriateness and attainability of instructional objectives. 4 In the effort for obtaining information about the classroom, teachers need an instrument to assess the students’ performance. The writer considers that the test is one of the instruments which can be used for gathering the information about the strengths and the weaknesses in accepting the lesson by the students. 2 Gronlund, N.E., Measurement and Evaluation in Teaching 5 th ed , New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., 1985 p.5 3 Lyle, F. Bahman, Fundamental Considerations in Language Testing, Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1990 p.22 4 Drs. Wilmar Tinambunan, Evaluation of Students Achievement, Jakarta: Depdikbud, 1998 p.3-4 Tests are often used for pedagogical purposes, either as a mean of motivating students to study or as a means to review materials taught. Students usually tend to study harder when they are going to have an examination rather than when they are not and they will emphasize on studying the study materials that they expect to be tested. Thus, if the teacher announces that they are going to have an examination, most students are motivated to review the material assigned. As a means to measure students’ achievement in learning process, a test should be constructed well. So that it is able to distinguish between the students who have studied well and those who have not. Based on the reality above, the writer would like to analyze the difficulty level of English Achievement Test Items for Elementary level case study at New Concept English Education Center, Pamulang, Tangerang as the subject of her paper.

B. Statement of the Problem