The Free Item Analysis Sheet for Teachers: How It Works

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Find out where your class needs the most help, and which lessons to revisit. Type in how many learners got each item right, and the free Excel sheet does the rest.

What you get:

• Your hardest items, shown at a glance.
• The three skills where your class needs the most help.
• Your class's Mean Percentage Score.
• A link to the lesson plan and Learning Activity Sheet (LAS) for each of those skills. The sheet is free, but the linked lesson plans and LAS may use credits.
• A Summary that prints on one A4 page, with a line for signatures.
• You enter class totals only, so there is no need to include learner names.

Get the free item analysis sheet

What is an item analysis sheet?

An item analysis sheet is a table that shows, for each test item, how many learners got it right, so a teacher can see which items and skills the class missed. Teachers use it after scoring to find learning gaps, check whether the test items worked, and decide what to revisit. The rest of this guide shows what goes in the sheet and how to read it.

It is one table per test. Each row is one test item. Each row tells you how many learners answered that item correctly.

Here is a small example with made-up numbers for a class of 40 learners:

Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number.

Item 3 is the one to look at. Only 14 of 40 learners got it right. This item is worth reviewing. Check the question and answer key, then consider whether the class needs more practice with the skill. The sheet is simply a way to see that quickly.

Item analysis sheets are used in Philippine schools. Your school may have its own format, so always follow what your school asks for.

What goes in an item analysis sheet?

Most sheets have these parts:

• A header: test name, grade, section and a date (leave the date for you to fill in).
• Item numbers: 1, 2, 3, and so on.
• Learners correct: how many got each item right.
• Percent correct: learners correct divided by the number of learners who took the test, times 100.
• The skill each item tests: so you can group the results by skill.
• Remarks: a short note, such as "revisit" or "keep".

You do not need learner names. Counts are enough.

What do teachers use it for?

• Finding learning gaps. Items many learners missed are worth a closer look.
• Checking the test. If almost everyone missed an item, check that the question and answer key are right. If everyone got an item right, that may simply mean the skill was learned well.
• Deciding what to revisit. Start with the skills with the lowest percent correct, as suggestions to review rather than a firm diagnosis.
• Reporting. Schools often ask for a class summary number such as the Mean Percentage Score.

How do I compute percent correct and the Mean Percentage Score?

Percent correct for one item: learners correct divided by learners who took the test, times 100.

Example: 14 correct out of 40 learners is 14 divided by 40, which is 0.35, or 35%.

Mean Percentage Score (MPS) for the class: add up every learner's percent score, then divide by the number of learners. A quick way is to take the total of all correct answers, divide by (number of items times number of learners), then multiply by 100.

Example with made-up numbers: a 10-item test, 5 learners, and 35 correct answers in all. The maximum is 10 times 5, which is 50. So 35 divided by 50 is 0.70, and the MPS is 70%. This works when every item is worth the same and is marked right or wrong.

How do I read the results?

1. Find the hardest items. These have the lowest percent correct.
2. Find the easiest items. These have the highest percent correct.
3. Group items by skill. Compare the percent correct for each skill, taking into account how many items assessed it. A skill with only one or two items tells you less than a skill with many.
4. Pick what to revisit. Treat the three lowest skills as suggested priorities for review, not a firm diagnosis. Do not try to revisit everything at once.

How do I get the free item analysis sheet from EV Learner?

EV Learner is an educational platform by EchoVerse. Its Teacher Toolkit includes a free item analysis sheet, so you do not have to work out the numbers by hand. It is made for English Grades 2 to 10 and MAPEH Grades 4 to 10, and it works best in Excel.

How do I use the sheet? (step by step)

1. Open evlearner.com/teacher/item-analysis on your phone or laptop.
2. Sign up with your email. We send you a 6-digit code, so there is no password to remember. It takes about a minute.
3. Pick how you want to start:
   • From a Test Maker test. If you built and unlocked your test with our Test Maker, the sheet comes already filled in with your items and their skills.
   • For a test you already printed. You get a blank sheet with 50 rows. You pick the skill for each item yourself. It works for English Grades 2 to 10 and MAPEH Grades 4 to 10.
4. Open the Excel sheet on your laptop.
5. Type how many learners took the test (the class size). The percentages and the Mean Percentage Score need this number. If you gave two versions, type the class size on each version sheet.
6. Check the items. A Test Maker test comes with its items already listed. For a printed test, use one row for each item and pick its skill. Leave unused rows blank. The sheet only counts rows where you typed a count.
7. After scoring, count how many learners got each item right, and type the counts in. You enter class totals only, so there is no need to include learner names.
8. Open the Summary to see your hardest items, the three skills where your class needs the most help and your Mean Percentage Score.
9. Print the Summary on one A4 page if you need a copy.

The sheet itself is free. The lesson plans and Learning Activity Sheets (LAS) it links to may use credits. EV Learner is in beta, and early accounts get free credits, and the site shows what each item costs before you use any credits.

Ready to try it?

Get the free item analysis sheet

Free Excel sheet. Sign up with your email and a 6-digit code.