The Angoff method is a widely used procedure for setting pass scores in vocational examinations, in which the awarders estimate the performance of minimally competent candidates (MCCs) on each test item. Within the context of some UK vocational examinations, the procedure consists of two stages: after making the first round of estimates, awarders…

The Arizona English Language Learners Assessment (AZELLA) is used by the Arizona Department of Education to determine which children should receive English support services. AZELLA results are used to determine if children are either proficient in English or have English language skills in one of four pre-proficient categories (pre-emergent,…

Over the past twenty years in performance testing a specific item type with distinguishing characteristics has arisen time and time again. It's been invented independently by dozens of test development teams. And yet this item type is not recognized in the research literature. This article is an invitation to investigate the item type, evaluate…

Scores are the most visible and widely used products of a testing program. The choice of score scale has implications for test specifications, equating, and test reliability and validity, as well as for test interpretation. At the same time, the score scale should be viewed as infrastructure likely to require repair at some point. In this report…

While externally moderated standards-based assessment has been practised in Queensland senior schooling for more than three decades, there has been no such practice in the middle years. With the introduction of standards at state and national levels in these years, teacher judgement as developed in moderation practices is now vital. This paper…

Alternate assessments of modified academic achievement standards (AA-MAS) must be designed, developed, implemented, and validated following the same rigorous principles and procedures used for other assessments. However, the uniqueness and unfamiliarity of the target population for these assessments requires innovative thinking, especially in…

It is shown that the Angoff and bookmarking cut scores are examples of true score equating that in the real world must be applied to observed scores. In the context of defining minimal competency, the percentage "failed" by such methods is a function of the length of the measuring instrument. It is argued that this length is largely…

This article reports on two related studies carried out to link the State examination of Dutch as a second language to the Common European Framework of Reference for languages (CEFR). In the first study, key persons from institutions for higher education were asked to determine the minimally required language level of beginning students. In the…

Even when the scoring of an examination is based on item response theory (IRT), standard-setting methods seldom use this information directly when determining the minimum passing score (MPS) for an examination from an Angoff-based standard-setting study. Often, when IRT scoring is used, the MPS value for a test is converted to an IRT-based theta…

Absolute standard setting procedures are recommended for assessment in medical education. Absolute, test-centred standard setting procedures were introduced for written assessments in the Liverpool MBChB in 2001. The modified Angoff and Ebel methods have been used for short answer question-based and extended matching question-based papers,…

A psychological measurement model provides an explicit definition of (a) the theoretical and (b) the numerical relationships between observed scores and the latent variables that underlie the observed scores. Examination of the metric invariance of a measurement model involves testing the hypothesis that all components of the model relating…

This report documents a standard-setting study to determine recommended minimum scores (cut scores) needed on the Core and Advanced iSkills[TM] assessments for examinees to be considered at a foundational level of ICT literacy skill. Two foundational levels--one for each iSkills assessment--had been specified previously by the National ICT…

This study examined the relationships between the evaluations obtained from standard setting panelists and changes in ratings between different rounds of a standard setting study that involved setting standards on different language versions of an exam. We investigated panelists' evaluations to determine if their perceptions of the standard…

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…

Throughout classrooms in the United States there appears to have been a general watering down of academic standards. The percentages of "A" and "B" grades have risen, and at some schools, the percentage of grades of "C" or lower has plummeted. Numerous scholarly articles about grade inflation discuss the extent,…