What is item analysis and why is it conducted?

• A. The process of assigning points to items after test administration.
• B. The process of evaluating each item’s performance (difficulty, discrimination) to improve test quality.
• C. The process of creating new test forms for future use.
• D. The technique of measuring time spent on each item.

Answer: (B)

Item analysis is about evaluating how each test item performed on a completed assessment, focusing on difficulty and discrimination. Difficulty tells you what fraction of test-takers answered it correctly, helping identify items that are too easy or too hard to yield useful information about ability. Discrimination shows how well the item differentiates between stronger and weaker performers on the overall test; a good item tends to be answered correctly by those who do well and incorrectly by those who struggle. By examining these statistics, educators flag items that behave poorly—such as ones that confuse students or don’t align with the intended skills. The goal is to use these insights to revise or remove problematic items and to guide the development of better questions for future administrations, improving the test’s reliability, validity, and fairness. This process is distinct from simply assigning points after testing, creating new test forms, or measuring time spent on items.