Political and educational consequences of standard setting for criterion-referenced tests are discussed. Suggestions for setting standards are given. (JKS)

A detailed analysis of standard setting and criteria for test scores and educational decisions is presented. The author contends that present procedures are in need of re-examination. (JKS)

The Nebraska Assessment Battery of Essential Learning Skills (N-ABELS) is a goal-oriented instrument with an evaluation component providing a basis for determining acquisition of twelve skills defined as learning goals. Each goal is stated in terms of an acceptable performance standard which clearly describes what the student must do. The skills…

Starting with the ninth grade, Hawaiian students are given the opportunity to take the Hawaii State Test of Essential Competencies (HSTEC) to demonstrate mastery of 14 Essential Competencies. These competencies are grouped into those covering the Basic Skills area and those covering the Other Life Skills area (e.g., distinguishing fact from…

Alternative mathematical models for scoring and decision making with criterion referenced tests are described, especially as they concern appropriate test length and methods of establishing statistically valid cutting scores. Several of these approaches are reviewed and compared on formal-analytic and empirical grounds: (1) Block's approach to…

This research compared the cut-off scores estimated from an empirical procedure (Contrasting group method) to those determined from a more theoretical process (Nedelsky method). A methodological and statistical framework was also provided for analysis of the data to obtain the most appropriate standard using the empirical procedure. Data were…

The logical and psychological bases for setting cutting scores for criterion-referenced tests are examined; they are found to be intrinsically arbitrary and are often examples of misdirected precision and axiomatization. The term, criterion referenced, originally referred to a technique for making test scores meaningful by controlling the test…

Seven prepared papers, with questions from the audience and answers by participants make up the proceedings of this conference on minimum competency testing. A number of conceptual and technical problems were raised, as well as questions about the effects of minimum competency testing on the curriculum and the psychological effects of the program…

The first part of this report is a question-and-answer survey of minimum competency legislation, testing programs, and remedial programs. It includes the questions of both the educator and the lay person. Topics include: minimum competency tests, the debate over minimum competency programs, what happens after testing, and what citizens should look…

The reading portion of the Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) was equated to the reading comprehension subtest of the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS) using the Rasch Model. Both tests were administered to 366 low achieving fourth grade students. MEAP was treated as both a 95-item test and a 19-item (number of objectives…