Assessment of Basic Competencies in Adults: Item Pool Validity and Reliability Study

Achievement tests are among the most widely used data collection tools to measure the knowledge and skill levels of individuals. For this reason, the existence of valid and reliable achievement tests that can perfectly reveal the competencies that a person should have in any discipline is of great importance. The purpose of this research is to provide evidence for the validity and reliability of an achievement test that will be used to reveal the verbal competencies of adults and the degree of these competencies. In the first part of the study, 1200 multiple-choice questions were prepared from the verbal domain. The prepared items were reduced to 1030 items by passing the expert opinion. Based on the criteria determined by Webb (1997) for the evaluation of learning outcomes, the opinions of field experts and experienced teachers were evaluated. In the second part of the study, a pilot application was made to 3.250 participants across Turkey on the e-platform created. Item analysis with the ITEMAN program showed that the test was valid to some degree. The KR-20 reliability coefficient was found to be 0.77, providing evidence of the reliability of the test. It is expected that the developed test will contribute to revealing basic skills in adults and be used in related research.