Assessing Teacher Competence in Items Development through Evidence of Convergent Validity of Test Scores from Alternate Examinations

Abstract

This study examined the extent to which two different measures of examination items prepared for two consecutive years measured a common construct as evidence of teachers' competence in item development. The study compared item parameter estimates of the 2016 and 2017 BECE items and established the convergent validity with a few of providing information on teachers' competencies in item development. The research design was ex-post factor while the population consisted of 34,899 and 35,859 students who sat for the Osun State Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in 2016 and 2017 respectively. Comparability of these items was made in terms of their item parameters, reliability estimates and evidence of convergent validity. Data were analyzed using test score statistics, transformed score and correlation coefficient .The results showed that reliability estimate of the BECE Mathematics items revealed Alpha Coefficient á = 0.09 for 2016 and 0.53 for 2017. The coefficient of Correlation of the test score was low, r = 0.191,p < 0.05. The implication was that the items had different reliabilities estimates and the convergent validity of the tests was low. Students who sat for the 2016 examinations stood at advantageous than 2017. The items of the two examinations did not capture the same construct, indication of the facts that more training was required for teachers in item development.