New Meridian Corporation has developed the "Quality Testing Standards and Criteria for Comparability Claims" (QTS). The goal of the QTS is to provide guidance to states that are interested in including content from the New Meridian item bank and intend to make comparability claims with "other assessments" that include New…

The design and psychometric methodology of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is constantly evolving to meet the changing interests and demands stemming from a rapidly shifting educational landscape. NAEP has been built on strong research foundations that include conducting extensive evaluations and comparisons before new…

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…

Validating performance standards is challenging and complex. Because of the difficulties associated with collecting evidence related to external criteria, validity arguments rely heavily on evidence related to internal criteria--especially evidence that expert judgments are internally consistent. Given its importance, it is somewhat surprising…

Purpose: This study aimed to compare the cut scores obtained by the Extended Angoff and Contrasting Groups methods for an achievement test consisting of constructed-response items. Research Methods: This study was based on survey research design. In the collection of data, the study group of the research consisted of eight mathematics teachers for…

Standard setting is the process of identifying the point(s) on a scale that serve to differentiate between individuals of distinct proficiency levels. While standard setting is ultimately a policy decision, most of the process is carried out by subject matter experts who are tasked with reconciling item-level or examinee-level information (e.g.…

The Nebraska Student-Centered Assessment System (NSCAS) is a statewide assessment system that embodies Nebraska's holistic view of students and helps them prepare for success in postsecondary education, career, and civic life. It uses multiple measures throughout the year to provide educators and decision-makers at all levels with the insights…

This study aimed at developing the Silpakorn Test of English Proficiency (STEP), in alignment with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), and in accordance with the theoretical framework established by Alderson et al. (2006). Four major steps were involved in the test construction. First, English language lecturers who…

Background: The issue of science is seldom brought into focus because of the way developing assessments of students' multiple text reading comprehension. Objectives: This study tested the sequential mediation model of scientific multi-text reading comprehension (SMTRC) by means of structural equation modelling (SEM), and aimed to advance the…

Purpose: University placement test is an important admission policy priority in Nigeria, because it serves as a university-based selection criterion for placement of students into undergraduate programs in Nigeria. Although recently attention have been shifted on the call to develop a standard content and standardize the test, yet attention has…

We report on a standard-setting project in which the Item-Descriptor-Matching Method (IDM) and a complementary benchmarking approach were employed to align a suite of English language proficiency exams to the "Common European Framework of Reference" (CEFR), with a particular focus on the integrated and independent writing exams. Judges'…

Angoff-based standard setting is widely used, especially for high-stakes licensure assessments. Nonetheless, some critics have claimed that the judgment task is too cognitively complex for panelists, whereas others have explicitly challenged the consistency in (replicability of) standard-setting outcomes. Evidence of consistency in item judgments…

This article discusses regression effects that are commonly observed in Angoff ratings where panelists tend to think that hard items are easier than they are and easy items are more difficult than they are in comparison to estimated item difficulties. Analyses of data from two credentialing exams illustrate these regression effects and the…

This technical report documents the processes and procedures implemented to support the Spring 2021 Nebraska Student-Centered Assessment System (NSCAS) Phase I Pilot in English Language Arts (ELA), Mathematics, and Science assessments by NWEA® under the supervision of the Nebraska Department of Education (NDE). The technical report shows how the…

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,"…