Many approaches to standard-setting use item calibration and student score estimation results to structure panelists' tasks. However, this requires collecting standard-setting judgments after the item analysis results are available. The Scoring Guide Alignment approach collects standard-setting judgments during the scoring sessions from teachers…

The Cherry Creek School district (Englewood, Colorado) is a growing district of 37,000 students in the Denver area. The 1988 Colorado State School Finance Act required district-set proficiencies (standards), and forced agreement on a set of values for student knowledge and skills. State-adopted standards added additional requirements for the…

The accountability testing programs of many states have begun to make extensive use of constructed-response questions and to report test results in terms of percentages of students at various proficiency or performance levels. This paper describes the step-by-step procedures for two standard-setting methods recently used for the New Hampshire…

The National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) is responsible for improving the form and use of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The NAGB is beginning to define achievement levels to state clearly what students should know and be able to do at key grades in school. This report creates a policy framework, definitions, and…

The General Accounting Office (GAO), at the request of the House Committee on Education and Labor, Subcommittee on Elementary, Secondary, and Vocational Education, conducted studies on the extent and cost of testing in the United States, the experience of Canada in testing, and initial efforts to set standards for judging student performance on…