How to read your report
The MapMyExam customer guide. This walks you from your testing software’s export to a report you can act on, and explains every word and number. You don’t need a statistics background.
Getting your report: four steps
- Export the item analysis from your testing software. ExamSoft: Assessments → Reports → Item Analysis → Export to Excel. Canvas: Quiz Statistics → Item Analysis report. Blackboard: Grade Center → Item Analysis → Download. Respondus/Moodle: Reports → Statistics → Download.
- Upload it in your workspace. Sign in with your email, choose the product and exam type, and drop the file in. Identifiers are stripped in your browser before upload.
- Wait. A nurse educator reviews every report. Guaranteed within 48 hours (Mon-Fri), often sooner; Priority is 24 hours.
- Read it in the workspace. Step through items with arrows or j/k keys. Download the PDF any time.
The words
| Word | What it means |
|---|
| Item | One question, including its answer choices |
| Stem | The question part, before the choices |
| Key | The option marked correct |
| Distractor | A wrong option; its job is to attract students who don’t know the material |
| Dead distractor | A wrong option nobody chose |
| Mis-key | The marked answer is wrong, or two answers are defensible |
| P-value | Share of students who got it right |
| Point-biserial | Did students who did well overall also get this right? |
| Cronbach’s alpha | Do the items agree about who knows the material? |
The numbers
| Number | Good | Look closer |
|---|
| P-value | 0.30–0.90 | >0.90 free point; <0.30 very hard |
| Point-biserial | 0.20+ | Below 0 means strong students missed it — almost always an item problem |
| Cronbach’s alpha | 0.70+ | 0.60–0.69 borderline; <0.60 be careful with close calls |
Rule of thumb: a hard item your best students got right is a good item; an easy item your best students missed is a broken one.
Reading your report
Start with the priority list at the top: this week / before the next exam / leave alone. Then five sections: headline numbers, flagged items, blueprint coverage, alignment, and Integrity Screen (if added).
A worked example
From a real 50-item Health Assessment exam. Stem: “Which practice is essential when conducting a pain assessment on a patient who cannot communicate verbally?” The key’s point-biserial was −0.08 and the only positive option was “ask a family member.” Two answers are defensible; the reviewer recommended accepting both and rewriting the stem before reuse.
Before your next exam
- Fix or rescore mis-keyed items
- Rewrite NOT / EXCEPT stems as direct questions
- Replace dead distractors
- Convert recall items into short scenarios
- Consider an Exam Preview
Questions people ask
Is this an AI tool? The statistics come from a rules engine; the written advice comes from a nurse educator who reads every report and writes in their own words.
Do you see my students’ data? No — removed in your browser before upload.
What if I disagree with a finding? Email support@mapmyexam.com; a reviewer looks again and corrects at no charge within 14 days.