ABSTRACT
This chapter provides guidance to quickly review item responses and make decisions about the quality of individual items. The review process involves examining responses from the highest-performing students and then the frequencies with which incorrect options were selected or incorrect written responses were given. The chapter identifies three item analysis statistics (item difficulty, item discrimination, and distractor frequencies), and gives details on how they are carried out and what information they each provide about item functioning. It explains reliability relevance to norm-referenced and criterion-referenced testing. The chapter describes, with examples, how analysis of item responses can be used to improve the item-writing process. It summarizes, with examples, how results from item and test analyses can be used formatively to improve learning. The chapter also explains, with examples, how information from test and item performance can be used to improve instruction.
