This book provides the most up-to-date and definite source of information currently available on setting performance standards. Chapters are grouped by common themes and provide diverse readers--educators, researchers, and policymakers-- ready access to the specific aspects of standard setting that interest them. Part I presents perspectives on the nature and role of standard setting, focusing primarily on theoretical concerns. Part II provides practical details on various methods of standard setting and addresses such problems as how to identify and train participants in the standard-setting process. Part III covers the lingering dilemmas in standard setting that perplex theorists and practitioners. By design, this book reflects the key aspects that dominate standard setting today and which are likely to do so in the coming years. Overall, it provides practitioners, scholars, and policymakers with the tools and perspectives that might fruitfully be applied to the challenges of standard setting today and to the unknown challenges that lie ahead.