At the heart of most assessments lies a set of questions, and those who write them must achieve "two" things. Not only must they ensure that each question elicits the kind of performance that shows how "good" pupils are at the subject, but they must also ensure that each mark scheme gives more marks to those who are…

A specified minimum performance level can be translated into a minimum passing score for the written test by measuring the performance of students whose written test scores are near the desired cutoff score. Stochastic approximation methods accomplish this purpose. The up-and-down method and the Robbins-Monro process are compared. (Author/RL)

In educational testing, subscores may be provided based on a portion of the items from a larger test. One consideration in evaluation of such subscores is their ability to predict a criterion score. Two limitations on prediction exist. The first, which is well known, is that the coefficient of determination for linear prediction of the criterion…

Setting a cutting score is a key problem in criterion-referenced measurement which is discussed within a decision theoretic approach when just one student is considered. A minimum information solution is given and compared with approaches when there is information about a group of students. Formulas illustrate the discussion. (CM)

In mastery testing a linear relationship between an optimal passing score and test length is presented with a new optimization criterion. The usual indifference zone approach, a binomial error model, decision errors, and corrections for guessing are discussed. Related results in sequential testing and the latent class approach are included. (CM)

During 1969 the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement began a series of cross-cultural studies to investigate the workings of multiple-choice achievement tests and student guessing behaviors. Empirical models to correct for guessing are discussed in terms of test item difficulty, number of response choices,…