In this study, the cut-off scores obtained from the Angoff, Angoff Y/N, Nedelsky and Ebel standard methods were compared with the 50 T score and the current cut-off score in various aspects. Data were collected from 448 students who took Module B1+ English Exit Exam IV and 14 experts. It was seen that while the Nedelsky method gave the lowest…

The New Zealand Government has announced a change package in response to a recent review of the National Certificates of Educational Achievement (NCEA). In this article, Charles Darr, a chief researcher at the New Zealand Council for Educational Research, outlines several elements of standards-based assessment that can usefully inform NCEA's…

The National Assessment Governing Board (the Board) contracted with Pearson to design and implement a review of the achievement level descriptions (ALDs) for National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Grade 8 assessments in Science, U.S. History, and Civics. This document describes the procedural and technical aspects and outcomes of the…

This brief examines state-defined long-term goals for improving achievement in states' Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) plans as of January 2018, and offers early insights into the varied approaches states have taken in setting long-term goals, timelines, and trajectories to reach their goals.

Large-scale performance assessment programs are a longstanding reform tool. However, standard setting can be a challenge for assessment programs that use primarily non-standardized assessments. The purpose of this paper is to extend this field of research by explaining the standard setting methodology applied to one more recent instantiation of a…

The National Assessment Governing Board has a legislatively mandated responsibility to develop National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) achievement levels. The Board Policy Statement on Developing Student Achievement Levels for the National Assessment of Educational Progress provides policy definitions of "NAEP Basic,"…

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires states to outline their academic and English language proficiency goals and provide a detailed proposal for the statewide accountability system in a state ESSA plan. This brief, a collaboration between Achieve and UnidosUS, provides a two-part analysis of states' goals for English learners (ELs) in…

This article draws on three assessment paradigms -- psychometrics, outcomes-based and curriculum-based assessment -- to discuss paradigmatic changes in senior school assessment and achievement standard-setting in Queensland, Australia, over the last 50 years. These include radical reforms in 1970 from university-controlled examinations to…

The authors illustrate models and procedures that can be applied to calculate overall composite scores in order to identify an indicator of English language proficiency, based on composite scores for English learners with 504 or individualized education plans who are missing one or more domain scores on the Assessing Comprehension and…

The ACT College Readiness Benchmarks are the ACT scores associated with a 50% chance of earning a B or higher grade in selected first-year credit-bearing courses at a typical postsecondary institution. The Benchmarks were established by linking ACT test scores with grades in first-year college courses from the same subject area. Benchmarks were…

Content standards, not performance standards, have been almost the sole focus of state policies and recent conversations about academic standards. Without rigorous content and performance standards, we cannot adequately prepare students for the global marketplace. A recent AIR study shows that state performance standards are consistently low and…

Political realities dictate that, as with any tests, passing scores on those developed by the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) will be set at a level that avoids having an unacceptable number of students fail. Since Massachusetts is by far the highest performing of the states that remain in the PARCC…

To address the skills gap and reward achievement, technical assessment publisher, NOCTI, began an initiative to define technical excellence in career technical education (CTE) programs and to recognize the nation's top CTE students through a digital Technical Badge of Excellence (TBOE). Analysis of standard setting methods and NOCTI student test…

The Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) high school test is administered to all Bay State students--both those intending to enroll in college and the many with no such intention. The MCAS high school test is a retrospectively focused standards-based achievement test, designed to measure how well students have mastered the material…

Research suggests that there are substantial (albeit mostly indirect) relationships between school leadership and student achievement. However, it is challenging for practitioners and policymakers to determine whether and how school leaders are making a difference in student achievement. Through its Education Research Grants Program (84.305A), the…