What is ceiling?

• A. When the student misses a specific number of sequential items on a test, testing is discontinued.
• B. The minimum items required to pass.
• C. The average across items.
• D. The starting point of the test.

Answer: (A)

Ceiling is the stopping rule used in many test protocols: when a student misses a pre-set number of consecutive items, the test ends because continuing wouldn’t yield useful information about the student’s abilities at that level. This rule helps avoid wasting time on items that are beyond the student’s current ability and allows the tester to estimate the upper bound of what the student can do based on earlier responses. The other ideas describe where testing starts (starting point) or what might count as a passing threshold or an average, not the rule that ends the test after a run of misses.