The National Spanish Examinations
Reliability
NSE recognizes that test reliability is defined as the degree to which the test gives consistent
results each time it is given.
In other words, reliability answers the following questions:
1. Can I depend on the test to measure the same outcomes consistently?
2. Given all the other variables being the same, will the test produce the same results again?
NSE uses the Kuder-Richardson 21 formula to calculate reliability coefficients:
r (reliability) =
(K)(SD2)-M(K-M)
⁄
(SD
2
)(K-1)
K = the number of items in the list
SD = the standard deviation of the scores
M = the mean of the scores
The scores of reliability are judged against a perfect score of 1.00. The closer the reliability
coefficient is to 1.00, the better it is. Most standardized tests usually have a reliability coefficient
of .90 or above.
1
Reliability Coefficients
for the 2013 National Spanish Exam
Level 01 Vocabulary Grammar Achievement Reading Listening Proficiency Total
Regular (N=5501)
Mean Raw
Score
69.2 53.1 122.3 62.4 55.4 117.7 240.0
Standard
Deviation
18.6 18.0 33.7 20.5 16.7 33.6 62.3
Reliability
coefficient
0.948 0.933 0.963 0.954 0.920 0.962 0.978
Outside Experience (N=1183)
Mean Raw
Score
78.9 60.1 139.1 71.3 63.0 134.3 273.4
Standard
Deviation
16.5 18.6 32.2 20.0 17.7 34.4 61.4
Reliability
coefficient
0.948 0.940 0.964 0.959 0.935 0.968 0.980
Bilingual (N=367)
Mean Raw
Score
88.6 64.8 153.5 75.1 74.6 149.8 303.2
Standard
Deviation
15.9 18.6 31.5 22.2 19.9 39.6 64.6
Reliability
coefficient
0.970 0.944 0.969 0.972 0.962 0.981 0.985
Level 1 Vocabulary
Grammar
Achievement
Reading
Listening
Proficiency
Total
Regular (N=36205)
Mean Raw Score 74.1 58.3 132.4 67.4 57.8 125.2 257.6
Standard Deviation 18.7 19.1 35.2 21.5 18.1 36.3 66.1
Reliability coefficient
0.955 0.942 0.969 0.962 0.935 0.969 0.981
Outside Experience (N=3643)
Mean Raw Score 83.9 66.8 150.7 76.9 68.5 145.4 296.1
Standard Deviation 17.1 18.8 33.5 19.9 19.4 36.4 65.6
Reliability coefficient
0.964 0.947 0.972 0.965 0.952 0.975 0.985
Bilingual (N=1969)
Mean Raw Score 91.0 68.6 159.6 77.9 74.7 152.7 312.2
Standard Deviation 14.6 17.4 29.3 22.5 22.7 42.6 64.8
Reliability coefficient
0.971 0.938 0.967 0.976 0.973 0.985 0.986
Level 2 Vocabulary
Grammar
Achievement
Reading
Listening
Proficiency
Total
Regular (N=35272)
Mean Raw Score 51.7 38.7 90.3 64.6 55.7 120.3 210.6
Standard Deviation 18.2 19.3 34.4 19.4 19.5 35.2 63.1
Reliability coefficient
0.934 0.946 0.963 0.949 0.945 0.966 0.977
Outside Experience (N=2879)
Mean Raw Score 65.6 47.1 112.7 72.2 68.8 141.0 253.8
Standard Deviation 19.6 19.5 35.6 17.3 20.5 34.3 63.9
Reliability coefficient
0.951 0.944 0.966 0.943 0.959 0.969 0.980
Bilingual (N=2712)
Mean Raw Score 81.1 54.9 136.0 72.5 76.2 148.7 284.7
Standard Deviation 19.6 19.5 36.2 19.7 23.0 39.4 67.4
Reliability coefficient
0.970 0.944 0.972 0.958 0.975 0.980 0.984
Level 3 Vocabulary
Grammar
Achievement
Reading
Listening
Proficiency
Total
Regular (N=28750)
Mean Raw Score 43.1 46.5 89.6 59.5 52.3 111.8 201.4
Standard Deviation 15.3 19.1 30.4 19.1 20.7 35.8 59.7
Reliability coefficient
0.904 0.941 0.951 0.943 0.951 0.966 0.974
Outside Experience (N=2410)
Mean Raw Score 52.4 49.8 102.3 63.6 60.3 123.8 226.1
Standard Deviation 19.8 20.0 35.5 19.5 22.8 38.3 67.2
Reliability coefficient
0.946 0.947 0.965 0.949 0.963 0.973 0.981
Bilingual (N=2700)
Mean Raw Score 77.5 63.0 140.5 66.9 70.7 137.5 278.1
Standard Deviation 21.2 18.0 36.4 20.3 23.0 39.9 66.8
Reliability coefficient
0.971 0.937 0.973 0.956 0.971 0.978 0.983
Level 4 Vocabulary
Grammar
Achievement
Reading
Listening
Proficiency
Total
Regular (N=16776)
Mean Raw Score 44.6 36.8 81.4 61.5 49.0 110.5 191.9
Standard Deviation 16.4 18.2 30.1 20.9 20.2 36.7 59.6
Reliability coefficient
0.917 0.939 0.951 0.955 0.948 0.968 0.974
Outside Experience (N=1440)
Mean Raw Score 52.5 38.3 90.8 64.4 56.4 120.8 211.6
Standard Deviation 19.0 19.2 33.8 21.3 21.6 38.8 64.8
Reliability coefficient
0.941 0.946 0.961 0.959 0.957 0.973 0.979
Bilingual (N=2191)
Mean Raw Score 73.4 49.1 122.6 64.4 60.3 124.7 247.3
Standard Deviation 17.9 18.1 32.7 21.0 22.4 39.1 59.2
Reliability coefficient
0.949 0.933 0.960 0.958 0.962 0.974 0.975
Level 5 Vocabulary
Grammar
Achievement
Reading
Listening
Proficiency
Total
Regular (N=5636)
Mean Raw Score 43.6 41.4 85.0 66.3 48.9 115.3 200.2
Standard Deviation 15.9 19.1 30.7 20.4 20.6 37.2 60.7
Reliability coefficient
0.912 0.943 0.953 0.956 0.951 0.970 0.975
Outside Experience (N=792)
Mean Raw Score 51.8 45.3 97.0 67.4 56.3 123.7 220.8
Standard Deviation 19.3 20.3 35.6 20.7 21.9 38.7 66.3
Reliability coefficient
0.942 0.949 0.965 0.959 0.958 0.973 0.980
Bilingual (N=1216)
Mean Raw Score 70.4 55.3 125.7 65.5 56.5 121.9 247.7
Standard Deviation 18.9 19.2 34.6 20.2 21.3 37.5 60.5
Reliability coefficient
0.951 0.942 0.966 0.954 0.955 0.971 0.977
Level 6 Vocabulary
Grammar
Achievement
Reading
Listening
Proficiency
Total
Regular (N=507)
Mean Raw Score 49.0 43.1 92.1 69.8 54.0 123.8 215.9
Standard Deviation 18.3 20.9 35.3 21.4 22.1 40.3 67.9
Reliability coefficient
0.935 0.954 0.965 0.964 0.959 0.976 0.981
Outside Experience (N=194)
Mean Raw Score 55.1 45.2 100.3 70.2 59.7 130.0 230.2
Standard Deviation 18.5 20.9 36.2 18.5 21.7 36.6 64.6
Reliability coefficient
0.937 0.953 0.967 0.949 0.958 0.971 0.979
Bilingual (N=383)
Mean Raw Score 76.9 61.1 138.0 68.5 59.9 128.5 266.5
Standard Deviation 16.3 17.8 30.9 21.7 22.1 40.5 59.2
Reliability coefficient
0.943 0.935 0.960 0.964 0.960 0.977 0.977
1
John A. Kaufhold, Basic Statistics for Educational Research (New York: iUniverse, Inc., 2007)
pp. 43-46.
