Importance of establishing validity and reliability of reading test

Abstract

This study presents the processes of developing and establishing reliability and validity of a reading test. In this respect, the study was conducted among 43 undergaduate students at Mongolian University of Science and Technology. Such detailed assessment is highly recommended for researchers who are in need of preparing pre and post tests which are different from each other. The results of students’ achievement in this test were utilized to determine the quality of each particular item in terms of item difficulty and item discrimination analysis. Item difficulty, commonly known as p-value refers to the proportion of examinees that responded to the item correctly. To test the reliability of the reading test, item analysis was employed in terms of item difficulty, discrimination, average and variance of the test scores. The quality of the item as a whole indicates a reliable value Kuder-Richardson 20 (KR20) value of 0.71.

Keywords: reading, Assessment of knowledge, reliability, validity, item analysis, item difficulty.