This chapter explores the critical process of item testing in assessment development, covering key stages from initial creation to evaluating the quality of items. It examines methods for evaluating item quality, including content validation, psychometric analysis, accessibility, and bias review. It emphasizes the importance of empirical data and expert opinion in refining and selecting effective assessment items.

Assessment is an essential aspect of the instructional design process associated with the expected learning outcomes of an educational product. Reiser and Dempsey (2012) suggest that instructional design involves designing and developing educational products to facilitate learning and improve performance. However, how do we know we have accomplished this goal once we have created an instructional product? This is where assessment is needed!

Before we get into the details of planning and creating educational assessments, we need to define and discuss a few essential concepts, terms, and definitions.

Planning a test and creating learning objectives before designing instruction is crucial because it clarifies goals and expectations, guides instructional design, and helps ensures alignment between objectives and assessments.

Creating valid assessments goes beyond ensuring test questions focus on material covered in class or in the curriculum standards. Assessment validation involves checking that your assessment instruments consistently produce accurate results and are used appropriately.

Both validity and reliability are important factors in selecting or creating an assessment instrument. However, it is important to recognize that while an assessment can yield reliable results, these results may not be valid for their intended use. In this way, validity is of paramount importance. However, reliability is a prerequisite for validity. Without consistent and stable results (reliability), an assessment cannot be considered valid. Both aspects must be carefully considered.

In addition to the qualities of validity and reliability, when creating or selecting a test to measure specific learning objectives, you must also consider the usability of the assessment results and the practical aspects of testing. These aspects should not be an afterthought but should be carefully considered when designing or selecting an assessment.

This chapter explores the critical process of item testing in assessment development, covering key stages from initial creation to evaluating the quality of items. It examines methods for evaluating item quality, including content validation, psychometric analysis, accessibility, and bias review. It emphasizes the importance of empirical data and expert opinion in refining and selecting effective assessment items.