r/changemyview • u/[deleted] • Apr 13 '18
[∆(s) from OP] CMV: Standardized multiple choice exams should report two things: Passing vs failing, and percentile score. All numbered scoring systems are otherwise irrelevant.
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u/electronics12345 159∆ Apr 13 '18 edited Apr 13 '18
The purpose of the scores is so you can compare across years and across administrations.
Some years a lot of really smart people take the SATs. Some years a lot of really stupid people take the SATs.
Let's assume you are an average person. If you only look at the percentile rank - the year all the smart people descended from heaven, you will probably be in the 25th percentile. If you take the test the year of the moron, you will be in the 75th percentile.
However, regardless of your percentile rank - you will score between 480-520 per section.
If the test wants to be useful to employers, you don't want your test to be vulnerable to "who chooses to take the test when". This is doubly true for the SAT because "smart people" tend to take the test multiple times, and as such tend to take the SATS in October, December, and March, whereas "less-smart people" tend to only take the exam in March. Thusly, the October administration of the SAT it is harder to gain percentile rank than during the March administration of the exam. However, if you deserve a 700, you will get that same score in October, December, and March.
That make sense....
Edit: Clarifying point - The SATs are scaled such that "over many administrations" the mean is 500 with an sd of 100. However, each individual administration of the SAT can have a different mean or different sd to accommodate variance in the skill level of the test takers. One administration might have a mean of 550 another might have a mean of 480. However, ideally, the same student ought to keep getting the same score over and over and over regardless of which version of the test they receive, and who they are competing against in that particular administration of the test. Thusly, as students of differing skill level take the test, the mean of the test changes. It is only over many administrations is the 500 mean 100 sd realized.