Testing the Structure of the United States

Government

To find if there are biases in my test beyond the content domain itself (The structure of the U.S. federal government) that may prejudice the test against those who know english as a second language.Secondary- to find systematic flaws with the

test that effected the entirety of the testing group

Purpose

Testing group

The test was given on a computer, half were given with me present and the other half were administer online with the promise that the test takers wouldn’t cheat. The test was accessible through the internet.

http://mrchalmershistory.wikispaces.com/testing

There was a questionnaire before and after the test. The first asked questions about the test taker and the second asked questions about the test. Addition feedback was often sought.

Test Administration

The test was composed of 25 questions relating to the structure of the U.S. government

The first 9 questions were taken from the test bank of the U.S. citizenship test.

The remaining 16 were developed by me from other sources

The test itself

Test 1-9

Test 10-18

Test 19-25

My findings in no way correlated to the studies about the citizenship test on questions one through 9. Why?

There was a large difference between the English as a second language group and native speakers.Bias likely because of lack of knowledge of the

content domain

Findings

There were flawed questions though but they were flawed throughout all test groups7. What are two Cabinet level positions?

Too vague- only two got it wrong 15. How many cabinet positions are there?

There is really no clear answer 16 currently 19. Name two kinds of congressional committees.

Again too vague-Standing committees, select committees, Joint committees,

conference committees20. What is the political system- ideology that the United

States government follows One person said this test was ideologically biased

Others had problemsPossibilities for better phasing- 4,17,18 Could have helped some with other questions 25-1, 9-8

Findings continued

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (2008) Naturalization Test and Redesign Project: Civics Item Selection Analysis (Form M-693)

Turner, M. J., & Lake, S. (1989). U.S. government: A resource book for secondary schools. Social studies resources for secondary school librarians, teachers, and students. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO.

Burns, J. M. (2002). Government by the people. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall.

Fulcher, G. (1997). Text difficulty and accessibility: Reading formulae and expert judgment. System 25 4, pp. 497–513

Sources