IBLCE Exam Passing Grades and "the Curve"

The IBLCE exam passing grade is set according to a very sophisticated and complicated procedure called the "Nedelsky" method. Every single distractor (answer choice) in every item (question) gets a "degree of difficulty" rating from the exam committee based in how far "off" the wrong answers are. The cut score is established based on the average degree of difficulty of the entire exam. Setting the "cut score" for any exam is a very sophisticated deal, and the Nedelsky method is considered the most valid and legally sound method. People get PhD's in exam design, and IBLCE's exam consultant is one of the best with a world-wide reputation among other psychometricians.

The exam is also "criterion-referenced," not graded on a curve. Some licensing exams are still curve-graded which can be manipulated to restrict the number of people passing, which limits the availability of the service and drives up costs to the consumer.

The Bottom Line? The IBLCE exam is very well-designed and the requirements and procedures are legally valid. In fact, it has been used as a model for other professions who are now required to make their exams "international" and offer them in other languages by the NAFTA and GATT agreements. For the record, I'm not on the IBLCE Board now, and haven't been for many years. But I have a great deal of respect for how the exam is designed, having attended many workshops on exam design and seen it from the "inside" early on. I took it in 1991 along with other "grandmothers" of the original exam. Contact the IBLCE office for more information at 703-560-7330 or http://www.IBLCE.org.

And use your new "initials" proudly. You've earned them.