A method for establishing minimal acceptable performance levels for criterion referenced multiple choice examinations is described and two procedures for evaluating its validity are discussed. The method involves assigning a priori item difficulties based on the similarity between the distractor and the correct response. In estimating the validity of this method it was found that a priori assigned distractor weights were significantly related to the choice patterns of different levels of students. In a second analysis it was found that the a priori set item difficulties were significantly related to normative data regarding item difficulty. (Author/DEP)