CHANCE AND THE EXAMINERS

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 135, 4 December 1935, Page 10

CHANCE AND THE EXAMINERS

For the thousands of young people of both sexes sitting for their matriculation examinations this week and next, not all of whom can hope to succeed in passing, there is in a cable message which appeared in "The Post" yesterday if not exactly a ray of hope at any rate a note of consolation if they fail. This lies in the "element of chance in public examinations" as "revealed in a test" organised by Sir Philip Hartog, Director of the International Institute, which is inquiring into the matter. According to the statement in the cable from London, in reference to the marking of school certificate papers,

when fourteen, experienced examiners again marked independently fourteen scripts, all of which had received the same moderate mark from the examining authority, they allotted more than forty different marks. When the same papers were resubmitted after an interval of twelve to nineteen months, the examiners changed their minds on their verdicts of pass, fail, or credit in 92 out of 210 cases.

Presumably, though the message might be clearer on the point, the same "fourteen experienced examiners" acted throughout the test and, presumably also, were allowed to do their work unconscious that they themselves were on trial oh suspicion of inconsistency. If the test was conducted with all possible safeguards—and there is no reason to doubt it—then it does reveal an extraordinary "element of chance in public examinations." Hardened examinees will cynically declare that they have known it all the time and those who coach pupils for examinations will point out that it is always wise to study the psychology of the examiner. But against the variability of temperament in examiners there is no armament in the examinee, except such a complete knowledge of the subject as is rarely given to youth to attain. There is an "element of chance" in almost every undertaking in life, but even in a sporting country like New Zealand it is a pity it should bulk so large, as it seems to do, in examinations where so much is at stake. Public opinion against making a fetish of examinations will certainly be strengthened by the London "test."