In the spring of 2021, just 1 year after schools were forced to close for COVID-19, state assessments were administered at great expense to provide data about impacts of the pandemic on student learning and to help target resources where they were most needed. Using state assessment data from Colorado, this article describes the biggest threats to…

Growth-to-standard models evaluate student growth against the growth needed to reach a future standard or target of interest, such as proficiency. A common growth-to-standard model involves comparing the popular Student Growth Percentile (SGP) to Adequate Growth Percentiles (AGPs). AGPs follow from an involved process based on fitting a series of…

In 2018, 26 states administered a college admissions test to all public school juniors. Nearly half of those states proposed to use those scores as their academic achievement indicators for federal accountability under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA); many others are planning to use those scores for other accountability purposes.…

The purpose of this study was to test methods that strengthen the comparability claims about annual determinations of student proficiency in English language arts, math, and science (Grades 3-12) in the New Hampshire Performance Assessment of Competency Education (NH PACE) pilot project. First, we examined the literature in order to define…

This article describes an alignment procedure, called Links for Academic Learning (LAL), for examining the degree of alignment of alternate assessments based on alternate achievement standards (AA-AAS) to grade-level content standards and instruction. Although some of the alignment criteria are similar to those used in general education…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the connotation of performance labels used in standard setting. For example, do the performance labels "basic," "proficient," and "advanced" hold different connotations than "limited knowledge," "satisfactory," and "distinguished"? If these…

Responds to a negative evaluation of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and asserts that a review of the evidence for the NAEP performance standards indicates that there is support for the current approach to NAEP standard setting. Considers the scholarship of the NAS evaluation…

Takes issue with support of the standard setting process of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) advanced by critics of the evaluation of the standard setting process by the National Academy of Sciences and asserts that the achievement level descriptions developed for the NAEP no longer adhere to policy statements defining the…

This module describes some common standard-setting procedures used to derive performance levels for achievement tests in education, licensure, and certification. Upon completing the module, readers will be able to: describe what standard setting is; understand why standard setting is necessary; recognize some of the purposes of standard setting;…

Following a review of educational standard-setting experiences in the United States, the procedures used by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) to arrive at a consensus on educational objectives are described. These objectives represent the only definitions of educational quality that are widely accepted by professional and lay…

Nebraska's approach to standards, assessment, and accountability, the School-based Teacher-led Assessment and Reporting System (STARS) is based upon local control and the belief that classrooms and teachers must be at the heart of student learning and accountability. STARS relies on locally-developed assessment systems to accurately measure and…

This National Council on Measurement in Education module describes standard setting for achievement measures used in education, licensure, and certification. The purposes, design, and conduct of standard-setting procedures are reviewed, and ways to calculate a cutting score are demonstrated. A self-test and annotated bibliography are included.…

Discusses the tension between setting high goals and setting attainable goals for adequate yearly progress. Presents some strategies that can be used to evaluate the level of rigor implied by the expectations for attainable, productive goals. Strategies relate to the understanding of how likely it is that a goal can be met. (SLD)

Clarifies the differences between two different approaches to the reporting of National Assessment of Educational Progress results using standards: anchor levels and achievement levels. Identifies critical issues related to the use of these approaches and provides a balanced view of their advantages. (SLD)

The National Assessment of Educational Progress incorporates key elements of a responsible standard-setting process: (1) choice of educational objective; (2) description of current group performance ranges and trends; and (3) the identification of educational contexts differentially related to performance. NAEP results can direct public values…