Analyzing Test Data: A Mathematics Test Case Study

Abstract

Most countries in the Global South conduct school examinations at national levels, generating massive data related to student performances in a range of school subjects. However, the data are often used in summative pass-fail decisions and seldom informative decisions. One possibility is that countries must learn how to analyze the assessment data for formative decisions. Using Math test data collected from 1500 students across 60 schools in Bhutan as part of a Ph.D. study, this paper shows ways to use test data for formative decisions. The study results show that test data can profile students’ knowledge and skills, classify performance into a hierarchy of thinking skills, determine the relevance of knowledge and skills to societal and technological change, and benchmark the knowledge and skills with international standards.