Abstract

This study was carried out to investigate the fairness of Nurses’ Licensure Examinations (NLE) in Malawi by examining potential biases due to differences in test forms, specifically through score equating. Nurses’ Licensure Examinations (NLEs), administered biannually, involve different test forms each year, which may vary in difficulty and psychometric properties. This discrepancy in test forms can lead to unfair comparisons between cohorts, as the difficulty of the test impacts pass rates and classification into grade categories. The study aimed to assess the unidimensionality of the exams, the significance of mean score differences across test forms, and the impact of equating on student classifications. Using the 2020 and 2021 Nurses’ and Midwives Technicians (NMT) Examination Paper 1 forms, the study employed Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for factor analysis and T-tests, and the R-EQUATE package with log-linear smoothing for equipercentile equating. Results revealed that both test forms were not unidimensional, with no dominant factor identified. No significant difference in difficulty was found between the two test forms. However, before equating, the pass rate for the 2021 test form was 76.34%, compared to 91.40% for the 2020 form, reflecting a 15.06% difference. After equating, the 2021 pass rate improved to 83.87%, reducing the gap to 7.53%. These findings underscore the importance of equating test scores to ensure fairness and validity in comparisons as unadjusted results can disadvantage students who take a more difficult version of the test.

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School	: School of Education
Issued Date	: 2025

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