ABSTRACT
Standard setting refers to the process of establishing cut scores on examinations. In some arenas—licensure and certification testing programs, for example—only a single cut score may be required. In these cases, standard setting helps create categories such as pass/fail and award/withhold a license or credential. In other contexts, standard setting may be used to create more than two categories. For example, the performance categories Basic, Proficient and Advanced are commonly used in K–12 education to connote differing degrees of attainment with respect to a set of content standards.
