S2-226 Evaluaion of the Spanish Class C Driver License ...

STATE OF CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES

EVALUATION OF THE SPANISH CLASS C DRIVER LICENSE

WRITTEN KNOWLEDGE TESTS

April 2008

Research and Development Branch Licensing Operations Division

? California Department of Motor Vehicles, 2008

RSS-08-226

Author: Sukhvir S. Brar

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4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE

I April 2008

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Final Report

5. FUNDING NUMBERS

Evaluation of the Spanish Class C Driver License Written Knowledge

Tests

6. AUTHOR(S)

Sukhvir S. Brar

7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES)

California Department of Motor Vehicles Research and Development Section P.O. Box 932382 Sacramento, CA 94232-3820

8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT NUMBER

CAL-DMV-RSS-08-226

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11. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES

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13. ABSTRACT (Maximum 200 words)

This report presents the results of an evaluation of the Spanish language written knowledge tests completed by applicants for an original or renewal Class C driver license. The report presents the test fail rate, mean number of errors, and internal-consistency reliability for each test form, as well as the pass rate, item choice selection rates, and item-total correlation for each question on each form. Items that need to be reviewed for possible rewording or replacement are identified. The results are based on 4,539 completed test forms collected from all California Department of Motor Vehicle field offices from July 9 through 13, 2007.

14. SUBJECT TERMS written test, fail rates, reliability, item analysis

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Unclassified

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Unclassified

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Unclassified

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39

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Standard Form 298 (2-89) Prescribed by ANSI Std. Z39-18 298-10

EVALUATION OF THE SPANISH CLASS C DL WRITTEN KNOWLEDGE TESTS

PREFACE This report is issued as an internal monograph of the Department of Motor Vehicles Research and Development Branch rather than an official report of the State of California. The findings and opinions may not represent the views and policies of the State of California.

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EVALUATION OF THE SPANISH CLASS C DL WRITTEN KNOWLEDGE TESTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This project was conducted under the general direction of David DeYoung, Research Chief, and the supervision of Robert Hagge, Research Manager II. Special thanks to Christine Rose, Program Support Staff Manager V, Herbert Brown, Program Support Staff Manager III, Martha Lewis, Driver License Manager IV, Jose Garcia, Associate Governmental Program Analyst, and the Spanish Translation Team for their contributions to the successful completion of this study. Staff in the Driver License Issuance Unit, under the supervision of Gerald Armstrong, Manager I, key entered the data from the completed written tests. Debbie McKenzie, Associate Governmental Program Analyst, helped type and proofread the report.

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EVALUATION OF THE SPANISH CLASS C DL WRITTEN KNOWLEDGE TESTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Introduction

? This report presents the results of an evaluation of the Spanish DL 5 (Rev. 6/07) Class C license written knowledge examinations. The study assessed the fail rate, mean number of errors, and internal-consistency reliability for each test form, as well as the pass rate, percentage of applicants selecting each answer choice, and item-total correlation for each item on each test form.

? The results are based on 4,539 completed test forms that were collected from field offices from July 9 through 13, 2007.

Results

? The overall fail rates for applicants on the first test attempt are 73.4% for original applicants and 71.6% for renewal applicants. The fail rates for both groups tend to remain steady or increase over the first three attempts.

? The first-attempt fail rates for individual test forms were fairly consistent for original applicants, ranging from 68.7% to 75.8%. Except for Form 4, which has a fail rate of 54.4%, the first-attempt fail rates are consistently high for renewal applicants on the first test attempt, ranging from 74.7% to 79.3%.

? For first-attempt originals, all test reliability coefficients are above the .70 standard of acceptability, with values ranging from .77 to .84. For first-attempt renewals, the coefficient values range from .48 to .72, with three forms falling below the .70 standard.

? Several of the items on each test form are potentially deficient as indicated by their having low item-total correlations, item pass rates that are too high or too low, or distracter selection rates that are too high or too low.

? Examiners exercised their discretion in rephrasing missed test questions and changed some applicants' original answer choices accordingly. This resulted in the

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