[h2]Overview[/h2]
The Scoring Process
How the Sections of the General Test Are Scored
General Test Score Scales
Analytical Writing Measure Score Review
Paper-Based Test Hand Scoring
Additional Score Information
Score Reinstatement
[h3]The Scoring Process[/h3]
The processes for calculating reported scores for adaptive tests and traditional paper-and-pencil tests are similar, in that the number of questions answered correctly is adjusted according to the difficulty level of the questions on the test form. Thus, the same number of correct responses on different test forms will not necessarily result in the same reported score.
In paper-and-pencil tests, the differences in difficulty among test forms are relatively small and are adjusted through a process known as score equating. The number of questions answered is also figured into the calculation of the reported score because it limits the number that can be answered correctly.
With adaptive testing, an examinee is administered a set of questions with a difficulty level that is specifically designed to match the examinee's ability level. The mathematical process for calculating a score in this situation incorporates the statistical properties of the questions, the examinee's performance on the questions, and the number of questions that are answered.
[h3]
http://How the Sections of the General Test Are Scored[/h3]
Computer-Based General Test:
Your scores on the Verbal and Quantitative sections of the computer-based General Test depend on your performance on the questions given and on the number of questions answered in the time allotted.
Because both of these sections are computer-adaptive, the questions presented are selected to reflect your performance on preceding questions and the requirements of the test design. Test design factors that influence which questions are presented to you include
- the statistical characteristics (including difficulty level) of the questions already answered
- the required variety of question types
- the appropriate coverage of content
For the computer-based Analytical Writing section, each essay receives a score from at least one trained reader, using a six-point holistic scale. In holistic scoring, readers are trained to assign scores on the basis of the overall quality of an essay in response to the assigned task. The essay score is then reviewed by e-rater, a computerized program developed by ETS, which is being used to monitor the human reader. If the e-rater evaluation and the human score agree, the human score is used as the final score. If they disagree by a certain amount, a second human score is obtained, and the final score is the average of the two human scores.
The final scores on the two essays are then averaged and rounded up to the nearest half-point interval. A single score is reported for the Analytical Writing section.
