So really, how does CXC grade your exam papers?

As everyone who sat CXC exams this year bites their nails and waits nervously for results to "come out", an interesting discussion has come up. How exactly does CXC decide what grade a student receives?

Some people suggest that CXC grades on a normal or bell curve, for those who are not sure what this means, I direct you to an explanation here.

My problem with this, is that grading on a bell or normal curve  been discredited a looong time ago. Not only that, CXC on its website describes, "performance standards"  that students must attain in order to get a grade 1, 2, 3 or whatever. Now, in the jargon or lingo of education, once you say, "performance standards", you are talking about criterion referenced testing.

For those of you who are not sure what criterion referenced testing is, you can get the background here.

Basically then, when CXC says that there are "performance standards" that you must meet to get a grade 1, it means that you are not being graded against other students who are sitting the exams at the same time as you. Rather, you are being graded against a 'standard' set by CXC for grade 1, 2, 3 and so on.

As CXC shows it, to get the grade, you must meet the standard. On their website they say:

• GRADE I:    Candidate shows a comprehensive grasp of the key concepts, knowledge, skills and competencies
                      required by the syllabus.

• GRADE II:   Candidate shows a good grasp of the key concepts, knowledge, skills and competencies
                      required by the syllabus.

• GRADE III:  Candidate shows a fairly good grasp of the key concepts, knowledge, skills and abilities
                      required by the syllabus.

• GRADE IV:  Candidate shows a moderate grasp of the key concepts, knowledge, skills and competencies
                      required by the syllabus.

• GRADE V:    Candidate shows a limited grasp of the key concepts, knowledge, skills and competencies
                      required by the syllabus.

• GRADE VI:  Candidate shows a very limited grasp of the key concepts, knowledge, skills and competencies
                      required by the syllabus.

You will notice that I have underlined the key words for each grade. These are the only words that change in describing the performance for each grade. Check it for yourself: all the other words are the same.

So, according to CXC, the difference between a grade 4 and a grade 1 is how much the examiners believe you understand the subject. 

This, people, is criterion referenced testing. And it means that your grades is not connected in any way to what other people do in the exam.   It is connected to how well you perform, relative to the tasks set in the exams.

The way I see it, win, lose or draw, the only person who affects your grade is you. I don't know if this is comforting news to anyone, but at least I hope it helps those students who are spending too much time comparing themselves to "the bright one in de class".  Newsflash: "wha' dey get, ain' ha' nuttin' tuh do wid you".

De results man!!!

On another note, I wish success to all those students who are awaiting results. I know the waiting is hard.. but it is almost over. In two weeks, results will be released and you can start preparing for the next phase of your life.

Don't forget, the CXC exam results have to go first to your local Ministry of Education, who will want to collect stats from them. Then they will go to your schools, which will keep them for a day or two to get the stats as well, before you finally get them.

So, for many of you, you will not get your results on the 17th of August. Expect that you may get them a week or even 2 weeks after that. Sorry if I am bearing bad news, but at least you will be prepared for the wait.

Good luck everyone!