Methods for range finding of open-ended assessments

1. Field of the Invention The current invention discloses methods to expedite and simplify a range finding process with resulting savings in time and cost. The invention utilizes digitized representations of respondent answers instead of documents containing the student responses. The invention uses methods of using performance indicators other than the response itself to identify a targeted subset of individual student responses within the sample which are likely to be exemplars of any given score point. In the preferred implementation of this invention, scanned images or other digitized representations of the student responses, and electronically recorded performance indicators are used so that a computer system can quickly and efficiently identify and present the targeted subset to the expert readers of a range finding team. The invention allows expanding the sample of responses available to range finding, up to the entire test administration.