In this essay, we describe the construction and use of the Cut-Score Operating Function in aiding standard setting decisions. The Cut-Score Operating Function shows the relation between the cut-score chosen and the consequent error rate. It allows error rates to be defined by multiple loss functions and will show the behavior of each loss…

This article provides examples of how serious misconceptions can result when only "all student" scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) are used for simplistic state-to-state comparisons. Suggestions for better treatment are presented. The article also compares Kentucky's eighth grade EXPLORE testing to NAEP…

Some standard-setting methods require judges to estimate the probability that an examinee who just meets an achievement standard will answer each of a set of items correctly. These probability estimates are then used to infer the values on some latent scale that, in theory, determines an examinee's responses. The paper focuses on the procedures…