ABSTRACT

The study analyzed the psychometric properties of Basic education Certificate examination (BECE) multiple choice items in mathematics in Abia state specifically to determine the content validity, item difficulty, discrimination indices, effectiveness of distracters, internal consistencies and coefficient of stability of BECE mathematic items. The population comprises all upper basic (Junior Secondary III) students of private, state, Federal Secondary Schools in Abia State. The study adopted the survey design. The instrument used were past BECE questions, the validity of the instruments is part of what this research work addressed using content validity through expert judgment and table of specification while reliability was addressed using Pearson product moment correlation coefficient for coefficient of stability and Kuder Richardson 21 for internal consistency. The research used past questions of 2014, 2015, 2016 BECE multiple choice items in mathematics which were administered to the students. The result shows satisfactory content validity for the different years with room for improvement; 81.6% of the items across the three years had satisfactory items difficulty while 18.3% items across the three years had poor item difficulty. The discrimination parameters shows 81% of the items across the three years have moderate discrimination indices implying that they are satisfactory while 19% of the items across the three years indicated low discrimination indices and should be discarded. 82% of the distracter items was seen to be effective, while 8% of distracter items across the three years was ineffective and should be discarded. Among the recommendations is the need for those involved in constructing BECE items be conscious of distracter/options they include in multiple choice items. Test development experts should create awareness and train teachers on their efficiency in constructing tests with good psychometric properties. BECE Mathematics in 2014, 2015 and 2016 are moderately valid and reliable, and should be used by teachers in preparation for future BECE as mock examination.