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Legacy Portal: Use the Angoff Method

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The Angoff method is a scoring system that allows you to use cut scores on each question to determine a passing score on an assessment. If this feature is enabled for your institution, you can use this method by applying cut scores to your questions and then selecting the Angoff Method as the grading method for your assessment.

Procedures

Add Cut Scores to Your Questions

The first step to using the Angoff method is to add cut scores (or "cut-off scores") to each of your questions.

Note: Alternatively, you can add the cut scores when building the assessment (as explained later in this article). 

  1. Create a new question or edit an existing question. 
  2. In the Options section, add a cut score as a decimal between 0 and 1. This number should correspond to the expected percentage of students that will get this question correct. 
  3. Save and approve your question as normal. 

 

Select the Angoff Method for Your Assessment

Note: Selecting this method will alter your grade scales. 

  1. Create a new question bank assessment or edit an existing assessment.

    Note: Cut scores may not be used with performance assessments at this time.

  2. In the Scoring section, select Angoff Method as the grading method.

    Once the Angoff method is selected, you will notice that the Cut Score column appears in the question listing and is an editable field. 

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    All questions must have cut scores to proceed.

    • If a cut score has been entered for the question, that value will appear in the Cut Score column.
    • If a cut score has not been entered for the question, the field will be blank.
  3. Add or edit cut scores until all are entered. 

    Note: If you post an assessment without selecting the Angoff method, you can change your grading method from the Adjust Scoring tab. However, the Angoff Method is available only if all questions have cut scores. You might need to edit your questions to add cut scores first, and then change the grading method to the Angoff method. 

 

Score Your Assessment

If the Angoff method is selected when configuring the assessment or selected on the Adjust Scoring page after the assessment has been posted, ExamSoft will automatically calculate the passing score based on the Angoff method and adjust your grade scales appropriately. 

To see the Grade Scales:

  1. Open a delivered assessment that has the Angoff method selected as the scoring method. 
  2. Select the Adjust Scoring tab. 
  3. Select the Grade Scales sub-tab. 

    Your grade scale will reflect a pass rate minimum points and percentage. If you wish to adjust your grade scales or use a traditional grading method, you must change the scoring method to "default" from the Adjust Scoring tab. 

For information about how the cut score will appear on your reports, see: Legacy Portal: View Cut Scores in Reports

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