SAT score spreads in Blue Book??

[8filltheheart]

Ds has been prepping for Sat's test with the Blue Bk, but we are really confused by the scoring. How can x# end up with a score that has anywhere from a 70 to a 110 pt spread? For example, one table that we looked at had the spread go from 590 to 710 for X pts. Those are hugely discrepant scores. How are those spreads determined? (are they throwing out certain questions that are therefore not being used in the scoring??)

 

Thnx.

[Brenda in MA]

I've observed the same thing in the CB Blue Book's SAT tests. I have the older book with 8 tests, and I think most of them have these score ranges in the back. When I got the newer book with 10 tests from the library, I noticed that some of those have fixed scores (e.g. 540, 680) for a specific number of questions correct.

 

My guess on this is that the newer tests with the exact scores are actually real tests that the CB has since released to the public, so they know the exact scores based on real student data. I'm wondering if the older tests have ranges because these tests were never real tests taken by actual students. They were practice tests put out by the CB around the time that the test format changed in 2005. Since the CB would not have real data for these practice tests, all they can give is a range of possible scores at each point.

 

In looking at the ranges, I chose to assume that the actual score was about in the middle of the range. When I compared my son's scores on the tests with ranges with his scores on the tests without ranges, they were similar. So I think assuming the middle of the range is probably pretty accurate.

 

HTH,

Brenda

[Luckymama]

 

My guess on this is that the newer tests with the exact scores are actually real tests that the CB has since released to the public, so they know the exact scores based on real student data. I'm wondering if the older tests have ranges because these tests were never real tests taken by actual students. They were practice tests put out by the CB around the time that the test format changed in 2005. Since the CB would not have real data for these practice tests, all they can give is a range of possible scores at each point.

 

HTH,

Brenda

 

:iagree:

[nancy in nj]

Yes, as I recall, the 1st 3 tests in the blue book are actual tests that were given in the past in their entirety. Tests 4-10, have past questions, just not from an actual exam so they don't have real data.

[8filltheheart]

Thanks ladies. I had thought that all of the tests in the blue bk were actual exams which is why I couldn't figure out why the scores had ranges. Thank you for taking the time to reply. It is appreciated. :)