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More bad news for the SQA and ScotGov - Professor Guy Nason (Chair of Statistics at Imperial College London) has had a look at the exam results methodology and his comments are highly critical
http://wwwf.imperial.ac.uk/~gnason/Pers_SQA_Aug4.pdf
http://wwwf.imperial.ac.uk/~gnason/Pers_SQA_Aug4.pdf
Some highlights:
"Not accounting for the uncertainty in rankings means that you cannot be sure that you are moving the correct students between grades."
"Not accounting for the uncertainty in rankings means that you cannot be sure that you are moving the correct students between grades."
"The treatment of predicted grades and rankings is inconsistent and, in my view wrong."
"If other weighting factors had been chosen, then the outcome, and the students who were moved between grades, might well have been different. Their process might be reasonable, but it is not objective."
"The problem at the heart of the statistical standardisation is that it can be simultaneously unfair to individuals, but also maintain the integrity of the system. However, if system integrity damages the life chances of individuals, then it is not much of a system."
Once again for the people at the back - if the SQA had released this methodology weeks ago this could have been addressed BEFORE results were sent to students. Instead the SQA decided to try to protect itself.
