Bookmark Standard Setting

The Bookmark method is an item-response-theory-based standard-setting procedure in which test items are arranged in a booklet ordered from easiest to hardest. Panelists page through this ordered item booklet and place a 'bookmark' at the point separating items a borderline examinee would likely master from those they would not, judged against a fixed response probability (commonly two-thirds). The latent ability at the bookmark defines the cut score. Developed at CTB/McGraw-Hill, it became one of the dominant methods for large-scale K-12 assessments.