If grades are set using the standard deviation, then the RMS test yields (range 29/standard deviation 8) 3.6 grade levels. KJS yields (range 51/standard deviation 10) 5 grade levels (See below). These results are customary for a test in Nursing and in a freshman general study Biology class.
Skew and kurtosis capture, in numbers, the shape of the score distribution in relation to the normal bell-shaped curve (the ultimate goal of test makers). These values are of little interest to teachers who can look at the actual score distribution. The normal bell-shaped curve has fascinated institutional education for decades. Tremendous effort is made to select questions that will produce a normal distribution of student scores that can then be compared between years on standardized tests.
In the most extreme classroom example, grades are assigned by matching the list of ranked scores directly to a standard bell-shaped distribution (there is the same portion of A, B, C, D, and F grades on each test). Mark off the grades on this printout using both grading methods to see the difference.
The Biology test is measuring learning, for the most part. The Nursing test is, for the most part, measuring what has been learned; it is confirming mastery (average test score 84%). Had the nursing students been given a KJS test the result would have been more clear of who knew what and what each one needed yet to learn. Both quantity and quality would be assessed.
Knowledge and Judgment Scoring (KJS) gives students the option of doing either one; guessing at right answers or reporting what they actually know or can do, what is meaningful and useful. The average test score of 73% is examined further in the following four printouts.
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Right Mark Scoring |
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| Knowledge and Judgment Scoring |
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