(25pp.) This is a critical evaluation of the rules for coding and scoring the missing responses to multiple-choice items in educational tests. The focus is on tests in which the test takers have little or no motivation; in such tests omitting and not reaching (as classified by the currently adopted operational rules) are quite frequent. Data from the 1991 NAEP Reading Assessment of 17-year-olds are used in analyses and illustrative examples. Alternative rules for scoring based on hypothesized behavior of the test takers are proposed.
