STANDARD-SETTING - AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH

Since 1971 there have been a number of studies in which a cut score ha s been set using a method proposed by Angoff(1971). In this method, ea ch member of a panel of judges estimates for each test question the pr oportion correct for a specific target group of examinees. Prior and c ontemporary research suggests that this is a difficult task for judges . Angoff also proposed that judges simply indicate whether or not an e xaminee from the target group will be able to answer each question cor rectly (the yes/no method). We report on the results of two studies th at compare a yes/no estimation with a proportion correct estimation. T he two studies demonstrate that both methods produce essentially equal cut scores and that judges find the yes/no method more comfortable to use than the estimated proportion correct method.