The 'Goldilocks' Phenomenon
States have had to start somewhere, but how do they know their standards are 'just right?'
A recent article in these pages illuminates what I at times describe as the "Goldilocks" phenomenon in standards-setting nationally. Showing the impact of geography on acceptable standardized-test scores, the article highlights the mismatch between what states define as proficient student performance and what the National Assessment of Educational Progress deems proficient. ( "A 'Proficient' Score Depends on Geography," Feb. 20, 2002.) The gap ranges from 52 percent more 8th grade Oklahoma students being judged proficient on state math standards on state tests than on NAEP, to 12 percent more Idaho students rating proficient on NAEP than on their state's test. The article also recounts the results of a study commissioned by Denver-area superintendents that found the Colorado standards- based exam high school students take to be more difficult than the SAT or the ACT.
The "Goldilocks" question is: Are standards too high, too low, or just right? Should Oklahoma raise its standards? Should Idaho and Colorado lower theirs? Is NAEP wrong to begin with? More fundamentally, what does it mean to "raise" or "lower" these standards? No one really knows for certain. Neither does anyone know exactly how to find out.
Psychometricians have a bag of tricks to tell how the scores students receive on one test are likely to relate to their performance on another test. These techniques, called test equating, have not yet been able to match up state standards-based tests with NAEP. States have employed expert panels that meet and use the "I know it when I see it" method, more properly known as bookmarking, to review standards and select those they believe all students at a particular level should know. The various performance levels on state assessments are designated...
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