Innovations in Setting Performance Standards for K–12 Test-Based Accountability

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Notes

¹ Achievement levels refer to the various classifications that are the intent of the assessment, e.g., pass versus fail or basic, proficient, advanced; sometimes these are referred to as performance categories. Achievement level descriptions (ALDs) are descriptions of the knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviors that distinguish performance between adjacent performance categories; sometimes these are referred to as performance standards. Standard setting methods are designed to identify which scores along the scale optimally represent the ALDs for a given assessment; these scores are often referred to as cut-scores.

²Ferrara and DeMauro use term performance standards; we use ALDs here to remain consistent throughout the paper.

³Bejar, Braun, & Tannenbaum use term performance standards; we use ALDs here to remain consistent throughout the paper.

⁴Referred to as performance level definitions (PLDs) in her article.

⁵The authors use the term achievement level descriptors in their article; ALDs is used here for consistent terminology throughout paper.

⁶ Perie (2008) cites Beck (2003) for these linguistic guidelines.

⁷At the time of this writing, the ECD process for the College Board's Advanced Placement examinations, where ALDs are developed from claims and evidence and used as input to the test design and item writing process, is still in progress.