MEASUREMENT+ASSESSMENT IN TEACHING REQUIRED |By MILLER - Essay Example

There are six types of reliability commonly used within the education sector. These include equivalent-forms, split-half coefficient alpha, inter-rater, test-retest with equivalent-forms, and test-retest. Specialists in the education sector usually choose the method of determining reliability that conforms to their purpose of assessment (Linn & Gronlund, 2008). Different factors have been determined that have the potential to affect the reliability of a certain test. One of the factors is the ease of administration.

Tests that are easily administered are likely to be better when assessing reliability compared to other tests that present difficulties of administration. The speed of administration of the test is also a critical determinant of reliability. Sometimes when students are given speed tests, determining reliability becomes a problem. This is usually because many students are not able to meet the time deadline of the test, hence they do not handle all the questions. On the other end, a power test presents a better opportunity for determining reliability because students tackle all the items in the test.

The homogeneity of the group is also a critical determinant of reliability. Experts in statistics have highlighted that heterogeneous groups presents a better measure of reliability. In other cases, the objectivity of the tests is a critical factor because objective tests present a higher level of reliability. Other factors include the availability of the equivalent forms, variation with the testing situation, and the difficulties in the interpretation of the results (Williams, Howell, & Hricko, 2006).

Standard era denotes a specific measure used to determine the variability in given statistics. It presents an estimate of the level of standard deviation, which is evident when sampling. Usually, three factors have been described as the critical determinants of the standard era. These include the number of observations in the entire population, the method