An Evaluation of the Construct Validity of Iranian National Test of English at High Schools

Abstract

The main purpose of the current study was to investigate the construct validity of the national final tests of English for grade three senior high school students in Iran. For this purpose, a total number of forty students and forty EFL teachers in Iran were selected. A quantitative method was adopted to analyze how this test has changed over fourteen years time span based on item analysis and correlation coefficients. Results revealed that there was a significant difference between 2000 and 2014 versions of final national tests of English for grade three high schools students in Iran in terms of test items, item facility, item difficulty, and item discrimination. The second finding showed that the total score of the 2014 test correlated with every subtest. Similarly, different subtests of the 2000 version correlated with each other. In addition, EFL teachers believed that the final national test of English for grade three high school do not have construct validity.