Setting cutoff scores is one of the most common practices when using scales to aid in classification purposes. This process is usually done univariately where each optimal cutoff value is decided sequentially, subscale by subscale. While it is widely known that this process necessarily reduces the probability of "passing" such a test,…

The COVID pandemic and the cancellation of state examinations caused unprecedented turmoil in the education systems on both sides of the Irish Sea. As the policy of calculating grades using purpose-built algorithms came undone in the face of a barrage of appeal, protest and legal action, the context in which the policies had been devised…

Have teachers become too dependent on points? This article explores educators' dependency on their points systems, and the ways that points can distract teachers from really analyzing students' capabilities and achievements. Feldman argues that using a more subjective grading system can help illuminate crucial information about students and what…

As professors, we each have our own approach to grading which allows us to assess learning and provide useful feedback to our students, yet is not too onerous. This article explains one approach we have used that differs from standard grading scales we often hear about from our colleagues. Rather than being based on 100 points or 100% over the…

This study examined the utility of response time-based analyses in understanding the behavior of unmotivated test takers. For the data from an adaptive achievement test, patterns of observed rapid-guessing behavior and item response accuracy were compared to the behavior expected under several types of models that have been proposed to represent…

Rankings are a powerful force in higher education, swaying the enrollment decisions of prospective students and affecting the opinions of parents, board members, and policymakers. In the words of one provost, "The rankings matter to our university because they matter to people who matter to us." Rankings are also a business--one that is…

This paper is a discussion and critical review of grading practices at a large flagship public university. In this paper, I examine the rights a student has when calling into question the authority and decision-making abilities of teachers in a classroom setting. Following my recent experience with a professor (noted at the beginning of this…

Many educators consider grades calculated from statistical algorithms more accurate, objective, and reliable than grades they calculate themselves. But in this research, the authors first asked teachers to use their professional judgment to choose a summary grade for hypothetical students. When the researchers compared the teachers' grade with the…

Northwest Evaluation Association™ (NWEA™) is committed to providing partners with useful tools to help make inferences from Measures of Academic Progress® (MAP®) interim assessment scores. One important tool is the concordance table between MAP and state summative assessments. Concordance tables have been used for decades to relate scores on…

Optimal assessment tools should measure in a limited time the knowledge of students in a correct and unbiased way. A method for automating the scoring is multiple choice scoring. This article compares scoring methods from a probabilistic point of view by modelling the probability to pass: the number right scoring, the initial correction (IC) and…

Concordance tables have been used for decades to relate scores on different tests measuring similar but distinct constructs. These tables, typically derived from statistical linking procedures, provide a direct link between scores on different tests and serve various purposes. Aside from describing how a score on one test relates to performance on…

How does one grade an electronic portfolio? This question is one I have thought about, have enacted, and have written about, primarily in reference to ePortfolios used in writing classrooms (Yancey, McElroy, & Powers, 2013). But what happens when the content and developmental levels are changed, in this case from an undergraduate first-year…

As academics we often assume that allocating marks to a task will influence student decision-making when it comes to completing that task. Marks are used by lecturers to indicate the relative importance of each of the criteria used for marking the assessment task and we expect the student to respond to the marks' allocation. This Postcard suggests…

Divergent thinking (DT) tests are very often used in creativity studies. Certainly DT does not guarantee actual creative achievement, but tests of DT are reliable and reasonably valid predictors of certain performance criteria. The validity of DT is described as reasonable because validity is not an all-or-nothing attribute, but is, instead, a…

Recently, Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) completed a study to connect the scale of the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCA) Testing Program used for Minnesota's mathematics and reading assessments with NWEA's RIT (Rasch Unit) scale. Information from the state assessments was used in a study to establish performance-level scores on…