HOW TO MAKE GOOD TESTS

Mr. Paul Vincent J. Gerano, M.Ed. –ESL

Resource Person
WHY DO STUDENTS FAIL IN EXAMS?
Let’s analyze some test items….
 Revised:
Jose Rizal wrote
__________. Noli Metangere was written by
_____________.

Faulty!
Place simpler items at the beginning to
ease students into the exam.
Avoid
humorous
items!

WHY?
 English, Grade 4

Reading level is appropriate to the students.

True or False:

Water turns to ice if you heat it.

 Which of the following essay questions is better?

1. What are the advantages and limitations of laptops?

2. Given their advantages and limitations, should laptops be
used instead of books?
Say something about this item.

All options should be

ANY PROBLEM? homogeneous and nearly
equal in length.
True or False
Priests and nuns are not allowed to
get their salary from the
government.
Statements must be absolute
without qualification, subject
to the true/false dichotomy
without exceptions

Not a good T-F item!

Which of the following is better assessed by an essay question?
Say something about this item.

NOOOOOOO!

IS THIS OKAY?
True or False: Avoid!
Indefinite or subjective terms
that are open to interpretations

Most Filipinos like lechon. Examples:

most

BAD ITEM! a very large part

a long time ago
 Evaluate the impact of K to 12
Curriculum on students.
Essay:
Evaluate the impact of K to 12
Evaluate the impact of K Curriculum on students coming from
poor families.
to 12 Curriculum on
students.
Evaluate the impact of K to 12
Curriculum on the dropout rates of
students coming from poor families.

Too general; not focused!

Task: Transform this essay question into a more focused one.
Show the evolution of your question.

Do you think the Duterte

administration is successful?
Explain your answer.
 Negative words and
True or False:
phrases
can be confusing

The Philippines is not part REMEDY:

-bold
of Southeast Asia. -underline
-CAPITALIZE
-italicize
BAD ITEM! -color
Say something about this item.
Students should not be permitted to choose one essay
question to answer from two or more optional questions.
The use of optional questions should be avoided for the
following reasons:

 Students may waste time deciding on an option.

 Some questions are likely to be harder to answer than

others. This could make the comparative assessment of
students' abilities unfair.

 The use of optional questions makes it difficult to evaluate if

all students are equally knowledgeable about topics
covered in the test.

GOOD or BAD?
 Absolute words
 Restrict possibilities
True or False:  These imply the statement must be true
100% of the time and usually cue a ‘false’
answer

Rice never grows in cold climates.

AVOID!
-no

BAD ITEM! -never

-none
-always
-every
-entirely
-only
 Absolute words
 Restrict possibilities
True or False:  These imply the statement must be true
100% of the time and usually cue a ‘false’
answer

Rice never grows in cold climates.

AVOID!
-no

BAD ITEM! -never

-none
-always
-every
-entirely
-only