Multiple-Choice Item-Writing Guidelines for Classroom Assessment: A State-of-the-Art Review and Use-Inspired Reframing

Multiple-choice item-writing guidelines are well-known in educational measurement. However, the utility of item-writing guidelines has remained questionable. Recognizing that adherence to guidelines is a necessary first step in improving the items that are used to assess, we undertook a State-of-the-Art literature review to provide a time-based overview of the current state of knowledge about item-writing guidelines and to suggest directions for future research guided by a use-inspired perspective. First, we explain the history of item-writing guidelines. We identify Haladyna and colleagues’ 2002 as the seminal work and use academic metrics to identify a steady decline in its scholarly impact over time. Second, we critique the current state of the field of item-writing guidelines drawing on evidence from literature related to item-writing flaws, professional development, and automatic item generation noting that innovations to increase the adherence to guidelines have not resulted in a sustained improvement. Third, we apply a use-inspired lens to identify conceptual overlap and implementation redundancy in Haladyna et al.’s (2002) guidelines, reducing the list to 13 sequentially ordered guidelines. In reaching these future directions, we focus on how a use-inspired perspective is more in keeping with the reality that most item writers will write many items without ever becoming measurement experts.