This report examines the history of standards in teacher education, sketching the results of major studies and projects that have recommended standards for teacher education. The report offers a definition of standards, examples of standard-setting efforts over the years, efforts by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education,…

A study was conducted to examine the attitudes of elementary, middle/junior high, and high school counselors toward the development of national standards for school counseling programs. An effort was also made to identify the components counselors thought should be included in the national standards. Input from leaders of the American School…

Whether differences in the standards states have set can be explained by something other than regional differences is explored. In addition, a way in which standards can be compared is defined, and the standard of proficiency that seems to be widely shared across the country is illustrated. The Trial State Assessment (TSA) data from the National…

This paper presents a comparison of two commonly used methods, Angoff (W. Angoff, 1971) and Bookmark (D. Lewis, H. Mitzel, and D. Green, 1996), for setting cut scores on selected response tests. This comparison is presented through an application to a grade 7 mathematics assessment in a suburban Midwestern school district. Training and operational…

This guide provides an outline of the components necessary in a written evaluation plan for vocational education programs. The four components that a plan for evaluation should include are described. The first component, the specific goals of the evaluation process, is divided into these two sections determined by the type of evaluation conducted:…

Setting standards on educational tests is extremely challenging. The psychometric literature is replete with methods and guidelines for setting standards on educational tests; however, little attention has been paid to the process of setting standards on computerized adaptive tests (CATs). This lack of attention is unfortunate because CATs are…

This paper looks at using descriptions of subject matter content to assist in the development and interpretation of student performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). These descriptions of content, called achievement level descriptions (ALDs), were initially conceptualized as exemplary statements of the knowledge and…

To address the issues associated with testing standards, sets of context-setting variables and technical matters associated with standard-setting are presented to assist groups or committees desiring to set standards in a systematic way. (Author/CM)

An ignored aspect of standard setting, namely the possibility that Angoff or Nedelsky judges specify inconsistent probabilities (e.g., low probabilities for easy items but large probabilities for hard items) is explored. A latent trait method is proposed to estimate such misspecifications, and an index of consistency is defined. (Author/PN)

Setting high standards will not cause excellent student performance. Standards must be set for the everyday work teachers expect of students. Work-design standards are needed to protect students from pointless teacher-generated work. Greater coherence and focus for learning will occur if secondary schools are designed backward from worthy tasks…

The major forms of evidence that support a standard's credibility are reviewed, and what can be done over time and for different forms of an examination to enhance its comparability in a credentialing setting is outlined. Pass-fail decisions must be consistent to ensure a standard's credibility. (SLD)

Outlines a framework for considering the validity of standards-based score interpretations and then considers the potential roles of different stakeholder groups and other participants in that process. Suggests study of a new standard-setting method, the "briefing book," which would describe alternative cut scores. (SLD)

Whether anchor item sets varying in difficulty and discrimination affect precision of cutting score equivalents generated through judge rescaling as much as equivalents from score equating was studied with 4 groups of experts and 250 and 1,000 examinees. Results indicate the robustness of judge rescaling and its superiority over equating. (SLD)

The comparability of Angoff-based item ratings on a general education test battery made by judges from within-content and across-content domains was studied. Results with 26 college faculty judges indicate that, at least for some tests, item ratings might be essentially equivalent regardless of judge's content specialty. (SLD)

A performance-standard setting procedure termed judgmental policy capturing (JPC) and its application are described. A study involving 12 panelists demonstrated the feasibility of the JPC method for setting performance standards for classroom teachers seeking certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. (SLD)