Item Response Analysis of the Psychometric Properties of Economics Mock Examination in Kaura Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria

The aim of this study was to determine the psychometric properties of Economics mock examination using Item Response Theory (IRT) analysis in Kaura Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria. The  motivation for the was as a results of evidences which showed that student’s achievement in economics in Kaura Local Government Area (LGA) of Kaduna State was low which could be attributed to the quality of achievement test used by teachers for assessment of students. The study was guided by five research objectives and five research questions. The study adopted descriptive Survey research design. The population for the study consisted of all Senior Secondary School Students in Kaura Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria. There are twenty (20) Senior Secondary Schools that wrote Economics Mock examination in the year 2022/2023 academic session. The sample of the study consisted of one thousand, three hundred and four (1,304) students’ scripts made up of 689 Males and 615 Females students from twenty Senior Secondary schools in Kaura LGA of Kaduna State, Nigeria. Simple random sampling technique was used in selecting the sample for the study. The instrument used for the study was 2022 Economics mock examination scripts. The reliability of the instrument was re-established using the 2-PLM generalized partial credit models of IRT framework through the item information function. The items gives high amount of information in assessing the theta level of students, and high information implies high reliability. The findings showed that the difficulty, discrimination and Guessing parameter needed review. The study recommended that Kaura Area Directorate of Education should establish the psychometric properties of their test items before using the items for Mock Examination. Teachers should use IRT to improve the quality of items before using test items to determine learning outcomes.