I have thought the SAT scoring system to be unfair. (edit)

[lookagain]

Let me deal specifically with the math portions of the SAT.

Supposedly there are a total of 54 math questions spread out in a few sections,
with five multiple choices for each question. (I am not sure if this is the set-up.)

The grading system for the raw scores is the number of questions marked
correctly (times one), minus one-fourth times the number of questions
attempted, but incorrect, and the number of questions left blank do not matter.

As I see it, an unmarked question is *also* a wrong answer, so that those
one-fourth of those should be subtracted, too.

And, to me, there looks to be more merit than testees who try to answer
as many questions as possible. I see that as trying more than a person
who leaves more questions unanswered.

Also, I see it as presumptuous to name incorrectly answered questions as
"guesses," and that testees are being punished by suctracting one-fourth
of them for forming part of the score. What I feel is more honest is that
many (some percent) of questions which were answered incorrectly were
done so by making smaller relative errors (mistakes such as typos, etc.),
that the person did not guess, but answered them to the best of their
ability at that moment.

Example:
-----------

Student A

38 - - attempted questions answered correctly
16 - - left unanswered/blank
0 - - No remaining questions attempted and are incorrect

38(1) - 0(16) - 0(0) = 38

____________________________________________________


Student B

39 - - attempted questions answered correctly
7 - - left unanswered/blank
8 - - remaining questions attempted and are incorrect

39(1) - 0(7) - (1/4)8 =

39 - 2 = 37

Conclusion:

Student A got a higher score than student B on the mathematics
portion, although he/she got fewer questions correct and left
more questions blank.


==============================================================

What are some more facts and/or opinions of any other users about this scoring
system?

 

[daon]

Re: I have thought the SAT scoring system to be fair.

So its possible to get a negative score? :shock:

I don't agree nor disagree with it. It deters a lot of students from guessing, while mildly infringing on the scores of few students if they clearly know the scoring rules. Is it optimal? Probably not. However, in the example you gave, it is likely student B's score should be lower, as without knowing much more about the student, one may wager that ~2-3 questions were actually guessed correctly and not truly known (under the assumption those 8 were actually guesses and 4 options per question). If the student only guessed at half of the eight questions, that still leaves >1 question as a correct guess counted in the 39 points.

I'm not going to try and apply a rigorous model to the situation, but what other ways might work better? I don't see a problem with straight-forward grading either, but I do not know the reasons for their grading system.

 

[tkhunny]

Re: I have thought the SAT scoring system to be fair.

A couple of things:

1) It is an interesting scoring system that attempts to discourage guessing. It probably does that if the student understands the system, but will not do it for more advanced students. It should discourage guessing when only one answer can be ruled out. If two can be ruled out, it still pays to guess between the remaining three. Of course, only the more advanced student would know this.

2) The two most important parts of standardized exams are a) Minimum Standards, and b) Student Differentiation. This scoring system does both of these as well as any other system of my acquaintance.