A specified point on a score scale such that scores at or above that point are interpreted or acted upon differently from scores below that point. See Performance standard. American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, & National Council on Measurement in Education. (1999). Standards for educational and psychological testing. Washington, DC: American Educational Research Association, p. 175.
a score on one or more tests that divides subjects into different groups, as pass-fail, qualified-unqualified, selected-rejected.
a point on a score scale at and above which test-takers are classified in one way and below which they are classified in a different way
a way we categorize students according to how they did on the test
The cut score is the score that is determined to be a passing score for a particular test. If a district has established a scale score for its tests of 100-500, the cut score for any test is changed to the scale score to enable all tests to have an identical range. For example, a reading test might have a cut score of 30 correct out of 60 questions for a passing score. Converted to the scale score, it is scale scored at 300 (the passing score on the scale score). Likewise, if the history test has a cut score of 70 out of 100, a student achieving 70 would also receive a scaled score of 300.
A specific score on an examination instrument at or above which passing decisions are made, and below which failing decisions are made.
The raw or scaled score required to reach a performance level such as basic, proficient, accelerated or advanced.