Towards the development of St. Ann Academy mathematics achievement test (SAA-MAT)

This study develops an achievement test in Mathematics for the grade three pupils of St. Ann Academy. This instrument will measure and indicate the degree of success of an individual\u27s actual learning specifically in Mathematics. The processes involved in the development of this achievement test are as follows: (a) planning the test (b) writing and reviewing items (c) assembling the pretest forms (d) administering the pretest forms (e) analyzing the data of the pretest items and (f) assembling the final form. This achievement test covers the New Elementary School Curriculum (NESC) content areas for grade three namely, Whole Numbers, Fractions, Geometry, Measurement and Maps and Graphs. The items were written based on test specifications following the standards for item writing. The pretest forms were administered to 204 grade three pupils to determine the statistical characteristics of every test item. An item analysis was done using the computer programs of the Center for Educational Measurement (CEM).Statistical analsyis of the pretest data revealed that discrimination indices range from -.16 to .83 although the majority of the items have biserial correlation (rbis) ranging from .30 to .83 with difficulty indices ranging from very easy to difficult ( p = .15 - .95). The items which satisfied the criteria set for accepting items composed the final form. The SAA-MAT final form has a high mean discrimination level (.48), compared to the pretest items which had a moderate mean discrimination level (.39). The average mean difficulty of the pretest form was retained in the final form (.51 and .47, respectively).The item analysis output therefore shows that the great majority of the pretest items satisfied the criteria for item acceptability. An extensive review of the items should be done on the basis on the item analysis output to improve not only the options of some items but the whole test. Concurrent and predictive validity and other reliability studies are recommended to further complete the standardization procedures