Diagnostic Quantitative Economics Skill Test for Secondary Schools: Development and Validation Using Item Response Theory

Abstract

The study developed and validated a diagnostic test to measure economics quantitative skill of secondary school students. The test consisted of 50 multiple choice test items which were constructed based on economics curriculum. Six research questions guided the study. Preliminary validation was done by two experienced teachers in secondary economics and two experts in test construction. The pilot testing was conducted to ensure grammatical checking and compatibility of the test items while test try-out on 517 students yielded the data for item analysis. Analysis were attained through Bilog MG using Item Response Theory (IRT) three-parameter logistic model (3PL) to establish item difficulty, item discrimination, and the guessing value.  The empirical reliability of the test was 0.87. The difficulty and discrimination level of the items indicated that 39 items be retained while 11 items be replaced or modified. The test was found to be of good quality, valid and highly reliable. The test is ready to assess examinees quantitative skill in economics in Nigeria and other countries.

Keywords: diagnostic test, quantitative economics skill, IRT (Item response theory), unidimensionality, reliability.