Given the level of education debt in the country, it's obvious that
colleges and Universities are making far more money than test
companies. Has anyone ever calculated how much information is lost by
converting a perfectly good test average into a letter? Did I say
letter? We actually convert scores into letters? Imagine if we
converted IQ scores into letters. Does anyone know the history of using
letter grades? The error in grading as a measurement device contributes
to the lower predictive power of grades. If we scored courses better, I
am willing to bet that they would be completely redundant with SATs etc
and standardized testing would have no unique predictive power.
Mike Williams
On 2/20/14 12:00 AM, Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)
digest wrote:
Assessment companies and the test prep companies that live symbiotically off of
them make a great deal of money. The test score is held up and apart from the
grades as being somehow more fair. So I think they invite the scrutiny.
I think any individual grade from the student's middle school or high school
record might be less useful than an aggregate GPA. The 20-30 instructors
together make an index with considerable predictive power. Not that they
shouldn't be held accountable also. But it's unlikely that all 20 or so are
grading too easy or too hard. And no individual instructor has the same
financial investment in his or her product than the handful of institutions
making coin from theirs.
That being said, SES, for both grades and test scores, is a problematic
variable to tease out from merit/ability to succeed in higher education.
Nancy Melucci
Long Beach City College
Long Beach CA
-----Original Message-----
From: Mike Wiliams<[email protected]>
To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)<[email protected]>
Sent: Tue, Feb 18, 2014 11:10 pm
Subject: Re:[tips] SAT and High School grade study
These studies of SAT and grades as predictors or criterion just
highlight how grades are poorly designed as a measurement device. What
is their reliability and validity as measures of performance. Somehow
the college board and SAT makers get the scrutiny that we don't apply to
ourselves as grade makers. The error goes both ways.
Mike Williams
---
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