Evidence of the internal consistency of standard-setting judgments is a critical part of the validity argument for tests used to make classification decisions. The bookmark standard-setting procedure is a popular approach to establishing performance standards, but there is relatively little research that reflects on the internal consistency of the…

Evidence of stable standard setting results over panels or occasions is an important part of the validity argument for an established cut score. Unfortunately, due to the high cost of convening multiple panels of content experts, standards often are based on the recommendation from a single panel of judges. This approach implicitly assumes that…

This research evaluated the impact of a common modification to Angoff standard-setting exercises: the provision of examinee performance data. Data from 18 independent standard-setting panels across three different medical licensing examinations were examined to investigate whether and how the provision of performance information impacted judgments…

Evidence to support the credibility of standard setting procedures is a critical part of the validity argument for decisions made based on tests that are used for classification. One area in which there has been limited empirical study is the impact of standard setting judge selection on the resulting cut score. One important issue related to…

Despite being widely used and frequently studied, the Angoff standard setting procedure has received little attention with respect to an integral part of the process: how judges incorporate examinee performance data in the decision-making process. Without performance data, subject matter experts have considerable difficulty accurately making the…

This study investigated the extent to which the performance data format impacted data use in Angoff standard setting exercises. Judges from two standard settings (a total of five panels) were randomly assigned to one of two groups. The full-data group received two types of data: (1) the proportion of examinees selecting each option and (2) plots…

Numerous studies have compared the Angoff standard-setting procedure to other standard-setting methods, but relatively few studies have evaluated the procedure based on internal criteria. This study uses a generalizability theory framework to evaluate the stability of the estimated cut score. To provide a measure of internal consistency, this…

Although the Angoff procedure is among the most widely used standard setting procedures for tests comprising multiple-choice items, research has shown that subject matter experts have considerable difficulty accurately making the required judgments in the absence of examinee performance data. Some authors have viewed the need to provide…

The purpose of the present investigation was to address several critical issues relating to setting a performance standard on a nationally administered standardized patient examination (SPX). The specific goals of the study were to: (1) compare pass/fail rates from this exercise to those of past studies undertaken with the same examination; (2)…