A guide to writing ABO test items.

Credentialing examinations are frequently the primary method for determining a candidate’s competency before entering a profession or achieving certification. “Credentialed” implies that the certificate holder is sufficiently competent to ensure that the health, welfare, and safety of the public are protected. The testing process is an outcome assessment tool that measures areas of mandatory and essential knowledge. Because credentialing examinations are only as good as the quality of their testing items, these items must accurately reflect the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) essential for entry-level competency. The primary purpose of this article is to assist in writing relevant and reliable test items. A testing organization should precisely define both the educational objective of the examination and the information that the candidate should know. With regard to the American Board of Orthodontics (ABO) and American Dental Association, these details can be found at www.Americanboardortho.com and www. ada.org.Tests should give the examining body enough information to assess all applicable areas of knowledge and have a sufficiently broad scope of questions to ensure reliability. No test should be designed until the examiners know how the results are to be used. The ABO uses the Phase II examination results to assess didactic and clinical knowledge as a part of the certification process. When the purpose of the test has been established, an appropriate format should be chosen. The multiplechoice format is objective, versatile, and useful for testing the knowledge of a large group of people in various subjects. Therefore, the ABO chose it for the Phase II examination.