Content Validity and Comparability of the Lebanese National Examinations in Chemistry: An Attempt to Use the Webb Alignment Model in Lebanon

Currently, test validity is the extent to which several kinds of validity evidence can support the appropriateness of the proposed interpretations and uses of test scores. To validate the use of scores of the Lebanese National Examinations (LNE) in Chemistry for student certification, this study investigated content and substantive evidence of validity of the LNE in Chemistry for Grade 12 Life Sciences section over three years. To collect the two types of validity evidence needed, the degree of alignment in content and cognitive demands between the first sessions of the 2004, 2005 and 2006 of the Chemistry National Exams (CNE) and the Grade 12 Chemistry Curriculum (G12CC) were evaluated. The scores of the LNE are also used interchangeably; so that failing students can retake the exams. To evaluate the appropriateness of using the scores of the CNE interchangeably, evidence of comparability was collected by investigating the consistency of CNE in content and cognitive demands over a three-year period, from 2004 to 2006. The Webb alignment model was employed in the study. Nine experts in Chemistry reviewed the G12CC and the three CNE to judge their alignment. Both quantitative and qualitative data were gathered in this document-based research study where expert review and survey questionnaires were used to collect data. The results of the study have shown that the Webb alignment model is not appropriate for Lebanon and some European countries (e.g. France and England), the CNE do not measure the content of the G12CC adequately enough, the G12CC does not specify the cognitive processes or thinking skills that the CNE should measure, and the CNE are not consistent in their cognitive demands from year to year.