A N A LY S I S O F A SS E SS M E N T

FOR YOUNG LEARNERS

Ayu Alif Nur Maharani Akbar
Ayu Ratih Dipa Yuliantari
Christ Penthatesia

THE TEST
The test is set for the third grade.
The time for doing the tests are 60 minutes.
There are 30 essay items in the test consisting of
reading, writing, and vocabulary, grammar, and
pronounciation

PRACTICALITY OF THE TEST

Brown (2003: 19) states that an effective test should
be practical. This means that:
It is not excessively expensive.
It stays with appropriate time constraints.
It is relatively easy to administer.
It has scoring/evaluation procedure that is specific
and time-efficient

PRACTICALITY
Items of reading part are 14, items of writing are 6, and
items of testing language component are 10 items.
However, the time constraint is only 60 minutes to answer
30 essay items.
According to Brown(2003), an effective test is practical,
which means the test should has specific
scoring/evaluation and also time-efficient.
These items in the test are considered as too many

VALIDITY
Hughes (1989:22) states that validity means that
the test measures what is intended to measure.
According to Hughes, there are 4 validity:
Criterion-related validity
Face validity
Content validity
Construct validity

VALIDITY OF READING TEST

The face validity of the test is already fulfilled since the reading test is

in the reading comprehension questions.

However, the content validity is not fulfilled. Based on KTSP 2006, the

materials for the 3rd grade elementary school are short dialogues asking
someone activities and conditions, vocabulary, simple short sentences
and phrases, simple descriptive texts, and asking information. In fact,
the test provides texts which do not match with KTSP 2006.
Although the texts are not valid for 3 rd grade, the questions which focus

on knowledge and comprehension stages of Bloom taxonomy are quite

suitable for kids.

VA L I D I T Y O F W R I T I N G T E S T
Based on KTSP 2006, third grade students writing
activities mainly concern more on spelling, rewriting
words, highlighting words, and completing very
simple sentence.
In the test students are asked to arrange sentences
in the past tense form, describe characters in the
pictures, and making sentences. Thus, the content is
not valid based on competences of KTSP 2006.

VA L I D I T Y O F P R O N U N C I AT I O N,
V O C A B U L A RY, G R A M M A R
The pronunciation item is tested in number 21. However, the
test actually can be answer if the students know the vocabulary
without knowing the pronunciation. Thus, the test cannot fulfill
face validity requirement.
Based on KTSP 2006, students should learn simple sentences,
vocabulary, and phrases. Items number 24,25,and 27 are suitable
for third grade students. However, the others are too difficult and
not suitable with the curriculum. Thus, the content is not valid.

RELIABILITY OF TEST
Brown (2003:20) states that to make reliable test we
have to consider factor influence unreliability of test.
The second instruction of the test is confusing. This
possibly will disturb the consistency of students
performance. Hughes(1989:36) says that to ensure the
reliability of test, a test should provide clear explicit
instructions.

RELIABILITY OF TEST
Hughes(1989:36) says that candidates should be
familiar with the format of testing and testing
techniques. However, the testing techniques in the
test possibly will confuse the students. For example:
the third text in the reading test about complex
dialogues in the classroom. It will be okay if the test
is given for higher grade, but for the third grade the
test is too complicated.

CONCLUSION
Madaus and Russel (2011: 21-30) says, that making a test is an
art, not a science. Test developers must maximize the reliability
and validity by covering the different kinds of content and skills
that form the domain, but they must also build a test that takes
into account the limited attention span of children and that can
be administered in a single class period.
Based on the analysis, we could conclude that the test is not a
good test since it has not fulfilled the requirement of reliability,
validity, and practicality of a test.

REFERENCES
Brown,H.D. 2003. Language Assessment Principles
and Classroom Practice. San Francisco. Pearson
Education Inc.
Hughes, Arthur. 1989. Testing for Language
Teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Madaus, G. and Russel, M. 2011. Paradoxes of Highstakes Testing. The Journal of Education Volume 190.