ERIC Number: EJ788450
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2008
Pages: 10
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0731-1745
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Determining Sufficient Measurement Opportunities when Using Multiple Cut Scores
Norman, Rebecca L.; Buckendahl, Chad W.
Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, v27 n1 p37-46 Spr 2008
Many educational testing programs report examinee performance at more than two levels of proficiency. Whether these assessments have the capacity to support these multiple inferences, though, is a topic that has not been widely discussed. This study proposes a method for evaluating the minimum number of measurement opportunities for reporting students' performance at multiple achievement levels and describes an application of the method for reading and mathematics assessments that are used by some school districts in Nebraska. Analyses were based on judgments collected from 110 teachers about characteristics of items and tasks from multiple assessments in reading and mathematics at grades 4 and 8, and in high school. Results suggested that there were generally enough items on the mathematics assessments to classify students into two or three performance levels, but rarely enough to make the four classifications that the state reported. Items on the reading assessments were generally distributed across the proficiency levels and tended to allow reporting for all four classification levels. These findings have implications for both practitioners and policymakers in how scores are interpreted.
Descriptors: Testing Programs, Student Evaluation, Educational Testing, Mathematics Achievement, Grade 4, Inferences, Measurement Techniques, Cutting Scores, School Districts, Grade 8, High Schools, Mathematics Tests, Classification, Reading Tests, Reading Achievement, Achievement Tests
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Nebraska
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A