Assessment of constituency opinion about NBME examination standards.
The National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) reviewed its procedures for setting pass-fail standards in conjunction with the introduction of its comprehensive Part I and Part II examinations in 1991. A component of the review was the 1990 survey of 12 NBME constituencies to assess opinions about pass-fail rates and standard setting. The survey responses, generally consistent across groups, revealed (1) support for a more even distribution of fail rates across the three examinations, (2) support for a fixed standard, with pass-fail rates that change depending on the performance of a cohort of examinees, and (3) a favorable reaction to setting performance standards based on a review of the examination content. These responses may serve as a resource and a frame of reference for determining the standards for the comprehensive Part I and Part II examinations.
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Division of Research and Development, National Board of Medical Examiners, Philadelphia, PA 19104.
Nungester
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D001290:Attitude; D002170:Canada; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate / Q000592:standards*; D004521:Educational Measurement / Q000592:standards*; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D014481:United States