Analysis of the Difficulty Level and Discriminating Power of Arabic Language Test Items at MTS Salafiyah Merakurak Tuban

Siti Nur Salma  Salsabela; M. Baihaqi; Mohammad  Nu’man

doi:10.54783/ijsoc.v8i4.1785

Siti Nur Salma Salsabela Unicersitas Islam Negeri Sunan Ampel Surabaya, Indonesia
M. Baihaqi Unicersitas Islam Negeri Sunan Ampel Surabaya, Indonesia
Mohammad Nu’man Unicersitas Islam Negeri Sunan Ampel Surabaya, Indonesia

DOI: https://doi.org/10.54783/ijsoc.v8i4.1785

Keywords: Item Analysis, Item Difficulty, Discrimination Index, Arabic Language Assessment, Educational Evaluation.

Abstract

The quality of test items determines how accurately an assessment represents students' ability, yet item analysis of Arabic language tests in madrasahs remains uncommon, although teachers need its results to improve their tests. This study aimed to describe the item difficulty and discrimination index of 50 items from a ninth-grade end-of-semester Arabic language examination at MTs Salafiyah Merakurak Tuban. A descriptive quantitative approach was applied to the dichotomously scored responses of 20 students. Item difficulty was calculated as the proportion of students answering correctly, and the discrimination index as the difference between the mean scores of the upper and lower groups. The results showed that 23 items (46%) were easy, 20 items (40%) moderate, and 7 items (14%) difficult. The mean discrimination index was 0.104; 6 items (12%) had negative values, 33 items (66%) were poor, and only 11 items (22%) were good or very good. Although the difficulty distribution was fairly varied, the items' power to distinguish between students remained weak, so most items need to be reviewed, revised, or replaced before being stored in an item bank.

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