Standard Setting in Education: The Nordic Countries in an International Perspective (Methodology of Educational Measurement and Assessment)

This book summarizes the international evidence on methodological issues in standard setting in education. By critically discussing the standard-setting practices implemented in the Nordic countries and by presenting new methodological approaches, it offers fresh perspectives on the current research. Standard setting targets crucial societal objectives by defining educational benchmarks at different achievement levels, and provides feedback to policy makers, schools and teachers about the strengths and weaknesses of a school system. Given that the consequences of standard setting can be dramatic, the quality of standard setting is a prime concern. If it fails, repercussions can be expected in terms of arbitrary evaluations of educational policy, wrong turns in school or teacher development or misplacement of individual students. Standard setting therefore needs to be accurate, reliable, valid, useful, and defensible. However, specific evidence on the benefits and limits of different approaches to standard setting is rare and scattered, and there is a particular lack with respect to standard setting in the Nordic countries, where the number of national tests is increasing and there are concerns about the time and effort spent on testing at schools without feedback being provided. Addressing this gap, the book offers a discussion on standard setting by respected experts as well as profound and innovative insights into fundamental aspects of standard setting including conclusions for future methodological and policy-related research. Front Matter....Pages i-vi Introduction....Pages 1-7 Front Matter....Pages 9-9 Using Empirical Results to Validate Performance Standards....Pages 11-29 Weaknesses of the Traditional View of Standard Setting and a Suggested Alternative....Pages 31-47 Standard Setting: Bridging the Worlds of Policy Making and Research....Pages 49-68 Standard Setting in PISA and TIMSS and How These Procedures Can Be Used Nationally....Pages 69-84 In the Science and Practice of Standard Setting: Where Is the Science??....Pages 85-98 Front Matter....Pages 99-99 Standard Setting in Denmark: Challenges Through Computer-Based Adaptive Testing....Pages 101-121 Experiences with Standards and Criteria in Sweden....Pages 123-142 Validating Standard Setting: Comparing Judgmental and Statistical Linking....Pages 143-160 National Tests in Norway: An Undeclared Standard in Education? Practical and Political Implications of Norm-Referenced Standards....Pages 161-179 Setting Standards for Multistage Tests of Norwegian for Adult Immigrants....Pages 181-204 Standard Setting in a Formative Assessment of Digital Responsibility Among Norwegian Eighth Graders....Pages 205-223 Assessment for Learning and Standards: A Norwegian Strategy and Its Challenges....Pages 225-241 How Do Finns Know? Educational Monitoring without Inspection and Standard Setting....Pages 243-259 Front Matter....Pages 261-261 The Data-Driven Direct Consensus (3DC) Procedure: A New Approach to Standard Setting....Pages 263-278 Using Professional Judgement To Equate Exam Standards....Pages 279-298 Closing the Loop: Providing Test Developers with Performance Level Descriptors So Standard Setters Can Do Their Job....Pages 299-318 Setting Standards to a Scientific Literacy Test for Adults Using the Item-Descriptor (ID) Matching Method....Pages 319-339