Qualities of a good achievement test

Quality of a good achievement test

An achievement test is said to be good when the questions have

·       Objective- basedness

·       Comprehensiveness

·       Objectivity

·       Validity

·       Reliability

·       Discriminating power

·       Practicability

Objective- basedness

       Any test meant for evaluation should measure the attainment in terms of instructional objectives. That is, each question should represent an objective, based upon which the responses can be scored.

Comprehensiveness

            A test should cover all the points expected to be learnt by pupils. Generally, it is seen that some of the learning points may be very important while others may be of less importance. But even the later items are included in the curriculum because they too have certain values for the learner. A correct procedure will be to determine a relative weightage to all the items in the portion being tested and construct questions according to that scheme.

Objectivity

            It refers to the degree of agreement between the scores assigned to a person by different but equally competent scorers. A measuring instrument is said to be highly objective, if the score assigned by different, but equally competent scorers are not affected by the judgement, personal opinion or bias of the scorers.

Validity

A test is said to be valid if it measures what it intends to measure. That is, validity means truthfulness. Validity concerns how well a test evaluates the students in the light of selected objectives. Several types of validity have been identified like, predictive validity, concurrent validity, content validity, construct validity and face validity.

Reliability

            It refers to the degree of consistency. Test-retest method, equivalent or parallel form method, split-half method and rational equivalence method are used for establishing the reliability of a test.

Discriminating power

            A test should be able to discriminate the respondents on the basis of the phenomena measured.

Practicability

            Ease of administration, scoring and interpretation are the factors contributing to the practicability of any test.