introduction

The middle school entrance examination English is a crucial summative test in the junior high school stage, formulated according to the "New Curriculum Standards for Moral Education", which tests students' English academic level and is crucial for interpreting and using scores. The testing system includes multiple stages, such as testing objectives, level positioning, conceptual definition, etc., to generate files such as test questions and detailed lists. This article discusses how to evaluate the quality of high school English test questions from both macro and micro perspectives when only obtaining test questions.

Macro level evaluation

Discussed the methods of evaluating the quality of middle school English academic proficiency test questions from a macro perspective. Firstly, evaluators need to consider the value orientation of the test materials, ensuring that the content of the test questions is consistent with the requirements of the "Opinions of the Ministry of Education on Strengthening the Proposition Work of Junior High School Academic Proficiency Examinations" and the "New Curriculum Standards for Compulsory Education", and judge their value orientation by reading the test materials. Secondly, evaluators should start from the purpose of the test, consider the purpose and expected use of the test, as well as the rationality of the test concept and content selection. The quality assessment of high school English exam questions should consider the implementation of standardized questions and the control of question difficulty, including whether the questions reflect the examination of core competencies, the coverage of course objectives, the coverage of course content, and the reflection of academic quality standards. Finally, content validity evidence is an important component of testing validity verification. Evaluators can assess the representativeness and coverage of the content required by the "New Curriculum Standards for Volunteer Education" by reviewing multidimensional itemized lists or item by item examination questions. It is recommended to use back-to-back peer evaluation between two or more people during the evaluation process to reduce the influence of subjective judgments.

Micro level evaluation

At the micro level of evaluation, evaluators can use Weir's (2005) social cognitive framework for validity verification to analyze the quality of test questions in depth. Situational validity evidence and cognitive validity evidence are two key aspects. Situational validity evidence emphasizes that testing tasks should reflect important real-life situations and operational tasks, and be evaluated from two aspects: task setting and task requirements. Cognitive validity evidence focuses on whether the test questions have reached the expected cognitive level. By evaluating the test questions' assessment of the candidate's cognitive level, it is understood whether the questions meet the requirements of the "New Curriculum Standards for Compulsory Education" for the thinking quality of students in this stage. In addition, Lin Dunlai et al. (2024b) analyzed the common problems in the quality of multiple-choice question design in high school English exams and provided specific indicators for evaluating the quality of multiple-choice questions. Haladyna and Rodriguez (2013) elaborated on the principles of constructing test questions, emphasizing the clarity of testing constructs, the conformity of cognitive requirements, and the comparability of processing the same constructs in test questions. The evaluation of the techniques and standards for constructing response questions is presented using a rating system, with two or more people conducting back-to-back evaluations. Questions with a score of 22 or above can be considered of higher quality.

conclusion

Exploring the quality assessment of high school English test questions, emphasizing the need for evaluators to possess professional competence, a deep understanding of curriculum standards, language proficiency standards, testing methods, and proposition norms. It is recommended to have a team of 3-5 experts conduct the evaluation, including language testing researchers, curriculum experts, frontline teachers, and teaching staff. The evaluation method is also applicable to the question development stage to improve the quality of the test questions.