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Educational Achievement Standards: NAGB's Approach Yields Misleading Interpretations

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Report Type Reports and Testimonies
Report Date June 23, 1993
Report No. PEMD-93-12
Subject
Summary:

GAO reviewed the approach used by the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) to establish standards for student performance in mathematics. NAGB reported that few American students had reached these standards. Expert reviewers noted several technical problems with the approach, which had several novel features, and questioned the results. This report extensively analyzes the validity of issues raised by NAGB's approach, examines alternative approaches to setting standards for performance, and reviews NAGB's capacity to provide sound guidance on technical issues. GAO found that NAGB's 1990 standard-setting approach was procedurally flawed and that the interpretations NAGB gave to the resulting scores were of doubtful validity. GAO recommends that the question of how to set and interpret performance standards be reopened and that structures and procedures for governing the assessment be reviewed to ensure that policies are technically sound as well as responsive to constituent interests.

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