An Analysis of English Semester Tests Made by Grade VIII Teachers at Sekolah Menengah Pertama (SMP) Negeri at Kec. Tambang Kab. Kampar Riau

A test is an instrument to measure students‟ achievement after attending English learning process in certain period of time. This research was aimed to find out and analyze the English semester tests made by grade VIII teachers. This research was classified into evaluation research. It was focused on the validity, reliability, item analysis and factors from teachers that influence the quality of the semester tests made by grade VIII teachers of Sekolah Menengah Pertama (SMP) Negeri at Kec. Tambang Kab. Kampar Riau. The data of this research were the semester tests used at SMP Negeri (1, 2, 4 and 6) Kec. Tambang, students‟ answer sheets and the transcription from the interview with the teachers. The findings showed that the semester tests made by the teachers need to be revised. From the data analysis, it was found that the tests of each school had low validity although it covered almost all of the basic competences for grade VIII students. Then, the reliability coefficient of the tests was also low (0.32 for SMPN 1, 0.41 for SMPN 2, 0.71 for SMPN 4, and 0.42 for SMPN 6). From the item analysis, based on the level of difficulty it was revealed that the tests were dominated by moderate items. For the discrimination indices, they were not able to discriminate high and low students. In addition, all kinds of semester tests were dominated by items which functioned well. The result of this research showed that the semester test used at SMPN 4 has better quality compared to semester tests used at SMPN 1, 2 and 6 since the teacher at SMPN 4 often join several trainings on test construction. Therefore, training on test construction contributes significantly to the quality of the test. This research suggested the principles of SMP Negeri at Kec. Tambang provide the teachers with continuous trainings especially on test construction.