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How quick will they be releasing CPA scores starting in Q4, 2011?

In Q4 2011, will they go back to having 2 score release waves (one 2-3wks after the 1st month of the testing window and the other 2-3wks after 2nd month of testing window) but with a shorter (<3wks) waiting time?

We know that when you take your CPA at Prometric, the computer knows instantly how you well did on the 1st two testlets. we know this because they adjust the next testlet’s #2 & #3 difficulty depending on how you did on the prior testlet. So Is most of the score release waiting time going to be spent just making sure the performance is translated properly onto the 0-99 score range? Or, going forward, can CPA scores ever be released almost immediately like the GMAT? Will 2011 be the last year/era of CPA candidates who will tell children, grandchildren, etc they at one time dealt with severe anxiety waiting for scores?

done

[ExhaustedCPA]

The software doesn't know what questions get thrown out. The AICPA decides that based on how many people got it right, etc. This is not a % test. This is a teacher grading papers, not feeding a scantron into the machine.

Aud 4/2/11 - 86
Far 5/27/11 - 83
Bec 7/1/11 - 82
Reg 8/13/11 - 86! It's over!!!!

[senbi575]

I still think it is bad that the scores take forever to be released, the simulations are what will always be the hold up. It seems like they started to standardize these as well with the “fill-in-the-cell” type of questions. Maybe one day you will get your exam score the moment you hit the “exit” sign.

[NoScores2Display4thisSection]

Only 15* of the questions are pre-test. As for the other 75* questions that are “operational,” all of them (i think?) were in use in prior periods so I would think the examiners should have the statistics on all operational questions to grade exams quickly/almost immediately for what will hopefully be a much quicker score release going forward. I guess this is what they have in mind starting Q4, 2011. But Just how much quicker will it be?

THe GMAT, for example, is extremely adaptive on how you're doing – the GMAT changes difficulty depending on answers to your last question! And the GMAT can get scores out same day. Whereas CPA assesses and adjusts difficulty after a set a 30 questions.

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[NoScores2Display4thisSection]

@ExhaustedCPA the CPA exam is essentially becoming a scantron in 2011. Even the essays in BEC are computer-graded. Crazy that that's even possible if you ask me. I think the only human effort needed each quarter would be to gather and interpret stats on the 15* pre-test questions as well as the new TBS fill-ins. The other 75* operational MCs have enough data on them already.

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[ExhaustedCPA]

I mean I see how it can be more scantron-like. But isn't part of the process evaluating the questions to see how candidates did on them? I thought the exam is “curved” in that fashion. That can't ever be automated. But, of course, the AICPA can make it just a regular standardized test, no leeway on bad questions.

Aud 4/2/11 - 86
Far 5/27/11 - 83
Bec 7/1/11 - 82
Reg 8/13/11 - 86! It's over!!!!

[NoScores2Display4thisSection]

@ExhaustedCPA Yeah, but I think every one of the 75* (out of 90) “operational” multiple choice question on the CPA exam already has stats on it. Every one of these 75* initially appeared on a prior CPA exam as a pre-test question. That may not be true for the 1st quarters in 2011 though (as they are gathering new info). I am not sure.

Quote from:

https://www.nccpaboard.gov/clients/ncboa/public/static/How_the_CPA_Exam_is_Scored.pdf

“There are three statistics used to describe the questions: Difficulty – whether the question is generally easier or more difficult for candidates, Discrimination – how well the question differentiates between more able and less able candidates, and Guessing – the chances of candidates answering the question correctly just by guessing. The statistics are generated when the questions are administered as pretest questions and used in the scoring when the questions are operational. The formulas for generating the statistics and scoring the Exam come from a scoring approach commonly referred to as “Item Response Theory.” Item Response Theory is currently being used or has recently been adopted by nearly all of the large licensing examination programs in this country and also by many of the moderate-sized and smaller examination programs.”

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[Minimorty]

@noscores – I deleted your yaeger thread. Probably not appropriate.

[valueofnothing]

@exhausted, evaluation of candidate success could definitely be automated. they could easily write software that makes a question's correct answer value inversely related to the percentage of correct answers… that alone would provide an accurate, performance based evaluation of how good a candidate is compared to the rest of the pool.

i think they should even assign different values to wrong answers. idk how they'd do that, but being super wrong should be more damanging than being a little wrong. especially on a test like AUD (on questions that i didn't really know the answer to), it often seemed like there were two relatively-correct answers and two obviously incorrect answers. penalize the person who is super wrong (or alternatively, penalize the person who is close because he may be more “dangerous to the profession” by thinking he knows the right answer but really doesnt).

REG - 81
BEC - 88
AUD - 85
FAR - 81

[Author]

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