ADMINISTERING,SCORING

AND REPORTING A TEST

MANALI H SOLANKI
F.Y. M.SC. NURSING
J G COLLEGE OF
NURSING

TERMINOLOGY

Analysis: The examination and

evaluation of the relevant information
to select the best course of action
from among various alternatives.

Test: A procedure for critical

evaluation; a means of determining
the presence, quality, or truth of
something.

 Scoring:

It means to evaluate and

assign a grade.

Report: A document

containing
information organized in a
narrative, graphic, or tabular form,
prepared on ad hoc, periodic,
recurring, regular, or as required
basis.

INTRODUCTION:
Administering

the written test is

perhaps the most important
aspect of the examining process.
The atmosphere the test
administrator creates in the test
room and the attitude the test
administrator displays in
performing his/her duties is
extremely important

 The

test administrator's
manner, bearing, and attitude
may well inspire confidence in
competitors and put them at
ease while participating in the
testing process.

ADMINISTERING A TEST:
A teacher's test administration
procedures can have great impact
on student test performance.
Before

the test
After Distributing Test Papers
During the Test
After the Test

TYPES OF SCORE
Raw Scores :
A Raw Score is simply the
number of questions a student
answers correctly for a test.

Uses:
A raw

score provides an
indication of the variability in
performance among students
in a classroom.

Limitations:
A raw

score by itself has no

meaning. It can be interpreted
only by comparing it with some
standard such as total number of
items for a test or with raw scores
earned by a comparison group.

Percentile Rank
A percentile

is a measure that
tells us what percent of the
total frequency scored at or
below that measure. A
percentile rank is the
percentage of scores that fall
at or below a given score.

Advantages:
Lay

people easily understand

them

Easy

to interpret

Limitations:
Percentile

equal

differences are not

Stanine (Standard nine)

Standard

nine) : Stanine scores

express test results in equal steps
that range from 1 (lowest) to 9
(highest). The average is a score
of 5. In general, stanine scores
1,2 & 3 are below average, 4,5 &
6 are average and 7, 8 & 9 are
above average

Standard Scores
The

standard scores indicate a

students relative position in a
group. It expresses test
performance in terms of standard
deviation units from the mean
The mean is the arithmetical
average. The standard deviation
is a measure of the spread of
scores in a group.

Types of standard Scores

Z Score
If a mean and standard deviation
can be calculated for a given set
of raw scores, each raw scores
can be expressed in terms of its
distance from the mean in
standard deviation units or z
scores.

Z Score =
Raw Score Mean/Standard
deviation

Note: Z score is always minus when

the raw score is smaller than the mean.

T Scores:
any

set of normally distributed

standard scores that has a
mean of 50 and SD of 10.
Multiplying the z score by 10
and adding the product to 50 can
obtain T Scores.

Advantages
only

positive integers are provided

Interpretation is relatively simple

once the concept of T Score
is grasped.

GRADING
Grading

refers to the process of

using symbols, such as letter to
indicate various types of
students progress (Nitko 2001).

Common Methods of
Grading :
Letter

grades :
There is a great flexibility in
the number of grades that can
be adopted i.e. 3 11.

Limitations:
Meaning

of grades may vary

widely
Do

not describe
strengths/weakness of
students

Strengths:
Easy

to use

Easy

to interpret
theoretically

Provide

a concise summary

 Number/Percentage

grades

(5, 3, 2, 1, 0) or (98%, 80%, 60%

etc.)
It is same as letter grades. Only
difference is that instead of letters
numbers of percentage is used.

Strengths:
Easy

to use
Easy to interpret theoretically
Provide a concise summary
May be combined with letter
grades
More continuous than letter
grades

Limitations:
Meaning

of grades may vary

widely
Do not describe
strengths/weaknesses of students
Meaning may need to be
explained or interpreted.

Two category grades

It

is good for courses that

require mastery of learning.

Strengths:
Less emotional for students.

Limitations :
Less reliable
Does not contain enough
information about students
achievement
Provides no indication of the level of
learning.

CHECK LIST AND RATING SCALE

They

are more detailed and

since they are too detailed it is
cumbersome for teachers to
prepare

Strengths
Present

detailed lists of students

achievements

Can

be combined with letter

grades

Good

for clinical evaluation

Limitations:
May

become too detailed to

easily comprehend

Difficult

for record keeping.

Advantages of Grades
are divided in to 5 7
divisions to which students
performance is assigned as
compared to 101 (0 100)
divisions of conventional marking.
It is a convenient method.
Chances of errors are minimized
Grades

Disadvantages of Grades:
The

assigned grades varies

from teacher to teacher
2. Do not indicate students
strengths or weaknesses
3. Foster unfair competition
among students.

Scoring Essay type Questions

:
Evaluating essay response the
evaluator should:
Evaluator

should use appropriate

method to minimize bias
Pay attention to the significant
and relevant aspects of the
answer
Be careful not to let personal
idiosyncrasy affect assessment
Apply uniform standard to all the

Method of grading essay type

question :
Analytical

grading : (Point

method)
In this method of the ideal answer
to a question is specified in
advance, although need not be in
the amplitude the ideal or model
answer is broken down into

ADVANTAGES:
It

can yield very reliable scores

The preparation of detailed
answer may bring to the teachers.
The sub division of the model
answer can make it easier to
discuss with the students the
marks awarded to them.

LIMITATIONS:
It

is very laborious and time

consuming

In

attempting to identify the

elements, undue attention may be
given to the specific aspect.

Global grading:
In

this method the ideal answer is

not sub divided into the specific
points and component points.
The examiner is interacted to read
the responses rapidly from a
general impression and using
some standard and standard
assign

Sequential Grading
In

order to bring more objectivity

more answers can be scored
beautifully. This is the same
teacher valuing answer of a
particular question.

Computer Software

The Software learns a specific

subject area by scanning
appropriate documents. Then,
the software is fed graded essays
to set up the grading standards.

Scoring Objective Tests

Hand graded :
Due to human effort, mistakes
may occur. Having two graders
grade exams help to catch 90% of
those simple mistakes in grading.

Machine Scoring :
As

accurate as the answer

code given to the computer.
Some testing publishers will
only release or sell their
products to individuals who
have undergone special
training or have a particular
degree in a related field.

Avante International
Technology (Biometric)
The

first test scoring system to

achieve less than 1 error in 1.5
million marks during testing by an
independent testing laboratory
responsible for testing election
equipment and ballots. The same
error-free tabulation method is
adapted for test scoring and
grading, and survey tabulation.

ITEM ANALYSIS:

Definition

Item analysis is a process that

examines students response to
individual test items/questions in order
to assess the quality of those items
and of the test as a whole.

Benefits of item analysis:

Provides

a basis for efficient

classroom discussion of the test
results
Provides data for remedial work
Provides a basis for the general
improvement of classroom
instruction
Provides a basis for increased
skill in item construction

Procedures involved in an
item analysis
Qualitative:
Qualitative item analysis procedures
include proofreading of the exam prior
to administering it for typographical
errors, for grammatical cues and for
appropriateness of the reading level of
the material, conducting small group
discussions of students after the exam
and some time with the experts.

Quantitative:
Item difficulty index (p)
Item difficulty index portrays the
easiness of an item because the
higher the percentage, the easier the
item. Item difficulty index is
symbolized by p.

 Item

difficulty = R/T
R = number of students who
correctly answered the item
T = number of students included
for the analysis.

Item Discrimination Index (D)

The

item discrimination index of a

test refers to the degree, which
the item discriminates between
high achieving students and low
achieving students in terms of the
scores of the total test

 The

formula to determine item

discrimination index is :
D = R u - R 1/ T
Ru = number of students in the
upper group who got the item
right.
R1 = number of students in the
lower group who got the item right.

T = One half of the total number

of students included in the

EXAMPLE:

After you have notified the doctor

about leg pain in a postpartum mother,
your most APPROPRIATE action
would be to

Massage her leg to increase

circulation
Have her walk around to decrease the
stiffness
Ask her to remain in bed

Distractor Power
The

kind of statistic is Distractor

Power. It provides information
about effectiveness of the
distractors

Simplified item analysis

procedures
Conduct

test/exams and score

them. (Suppose we have
conducted test on 21 students).

Arrange

all answer sheets in

order of merit (From higher to the
lower score).

 Calculate

27% of the answer

sheet. For a group of 21 students
it will be approx. 6.

Select

6 papers within the highest

total score and the 6 papers with
the lowest total score.

Put

aside 9 papers. They will not

be used.

 Compute

the difficulty index of

each item.

Compute

the discriminating index

of each item.

Evaluate

distracter

the effectiveness of

REPORTING

GOALS
Accurate

and useful reporting of

assessment results enables
teachers, students, parents and
the public to understand why
various assessment instruments
are being applied and how the
results will be used as part of the
institute improvement process

JOURNAL:
Developing

tests.

and scoring essay