Methods for setting cutoff scores based on criterion performance, normative comparison, and absolute judgment were compared for scores on a multiple-choice psychology examination for 121 undergraduates and 251 undergraduates as a comparison group. All methods fell within the standard error of measurement. Implications of differences for decision…

Continuing medical education (CME) on the Internet has grown steadily over the past several years. However, the quality of Web-based CME has received limited attention in the medical literature, and there have been few attempts to articulate quality standards. This article describes five sets of standards published in the distance education…

The Lisbon summit (March 2000) set the objective for 2010 of making Europe "the most competitive and knowledge-based economy in the world capable of sustainable growth and better jobs and greater social cohesion", while the Barcelona summit (March 2002) set the further objective of making European education and training systems a world…

The purpose of this study was to compare different statistical and methodological approaches to standard setting and determining cut scores using R-CBM and performance on high-stakes tests. One thousand seven hundred and sixty-six students were followed longitudinally from first through third grades using R-CBM benchmark assessment. In addition,…

Many state educational administrators are currently working to define secondary career and technical education (CTE) content standards that specify the knowledge and skills students are expected to master in CTE program areas. The two-phase project on which this report is based explored (a) the progress and status of states in developing statewide…

In this document we discuss 19 university league tables and ranking systems from around the world. Sixteen of these are "national" league tables collected from ten countries (Australia, Canada, China, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Poland, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States); three are "international" or…

Schools that become part of the "Making Middle Grades Work" network are expected to use the middle grades comprehensive improvement framework to show progress in changing school and classroom practices in ways that advance student achievement. True school reform is not a quick process. It is a continuous effort to make purposeful and planned…

As the context of special education has changed in the last quarter century, the role and work of the IEP team also has evolved. Today, the general education curriculum is central to the educational programs of all students. The expectation that is clearly communicated in federal policies and regulations, such as the No Child Left Behind Act and…

In previous studies of educational systems, Markov chains have often been used in simulations in which history played no role because all events were described as independent of each other. Mono-level dynamics (i.e., the social context in which learning occurs is ignored) have also been applied to simulations. Educational theories, however, are…

Considerable evidence suggests that policy-makers, educators, the media, and the public do not understand national and state test results. The problems appear to be two-fold: the scales on which scores are reported seem confusing, and the report forms themselves are often too complex for the intended audiences. This paper addresses two topics. The…

Studies of the Angoff method of standard setting suggest that judges agree in their estimates of the relative difficulties of test questions for minimally competent examinees and that each judge's estimates correlate well with the observed item difficulties for examinees whose total test scores are near the judge's personal standard (G. E.…

The most important issue in education today is helping students reach high standards. These standards are changing American education from a system driven by inputs and regulations to one judged by results. This manual is intended for use with any set of standards. Followed step by step, it will take the teacher from the abstract statements of the…

Praxis III is an assessment procedure that provides information for making instructional and licensing decisions about beginning teachers. The Praxis III Assessor's job is to interview the beginning teacher, observe the teacher in the classroom, score the teacher's performance on 19 criteria, and summarize the evidence for each score. The Assessor…

This study examined the contribution of five categories of variables to the standard-setting recommendations of a representative sample of 241 judges recommending standards for the General Knowledge and Communication Skills Tests of the National Teacher Examinations (NTE) for the state of North Carolina. It was based on the assumption that…

The purpose of this guide is to provide state and local Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) program administrators with an approach to developing meaningful and relevant negotiated performance standards that will serve as a management and evaluation tool. The guide is organized in four chapters. Chapter I provides background information on the…