Book (2022)/Bookmark Method

The bookmark method works by delivering the test to a representative sample of participants and calculating difficulty values for each item based on that group. We then rank the items according to difficulty and invite the experts to place a bookmark where they think the cut-off score should be. The average for all assessors is calculated and discussed in the group. All evaluators are then asked to place a second bookmark, the same or different from the first, depending on whether their opinion has changed during the discussion. The level required to pass the test is then based on the average or median of the second score.

Today, we use computers for this, but in the past, it was really often done by printing items into test notebooks and experts literally bookmarking them. In contrast to the Angoff method, with the bookmark method, the difficulty of the items must be mapped in advance based on the administration of the test to a representative sample of test takers.