PSYCHOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL CERTIFICATE EXAMINATION (SSCE) 2017 NECO ENGLISH LANGUAGE MULTIPLE CHOICE TEST ITEM IN KWARA STATE USING ITEM RESPONSE THEORY

Abstract

The study determined the dimensionality of 2017 National Examinations Council (NECO) English Language multiple-choice test item and estimated the item parameter indices (discrimination, difficulty, guessing and carelessness) using four parameter logistic model. The ex-post facto design was employed for the study. The population for the study comprised all candidates/test-takers who enrolled and sat for June/July Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) 2017 NECO English Language Examination in Kwara State, Nigeria with 12,000 samples purposively selected from sixteen Local Government Area in the State. The research instruments used for the study were Optical Marks Record Sheets for the NECO June/July 2017 English Language objectives items. The responses of the testees were scored dichotomously. The data collected were calibrated using four parameters logistic model. The results showed that the 2017 English Language multiple-choice item among SSCE students in Kwara State does not violate the assumption of unidimensionality. Also, the results showed that only two items (i.e., items 11 and 16) were able to satisfy the rule of thumb while the remaining 98 items were poor because they violated the rule of thumb in one way or the other.