Setting Reliable National Curriculum Standards: a guide to the Angoff procedure

Abstract The Northern Ireland Curriculum, like the English National Curriculum, records pupil achievement on a 10‐level scale. The level to which a pupil is ‘assigned’ at the end of a Key Stage is based upon two sources of assessment information: classroom‐based measures provided by the teacher and summative information from Common Assessment Instruments (CAIs), which are pen‐and‐paper tests taken at the end of the Key Stage. CAIs play a central role in confirming the accuracy with which teachers judge the level at which a pupil is working. While the teacher might judge a pupil to have mastered level 7 in Algebra, for example, based upon observation in class, test data and homeworks, the CAI will only confirm this level if the pupil scores above the level 7 cutscore on the CAI. If this cutscore does not accord with a reliable measure of what constitutes level 7 performance in Algebra in the classroom, there is likely to be misclassification of pupils with attendant difficulties for the efficient planning ...