[RE-wrenches] NABCEP Test

[wirewiz at gmail.com]

Bob-O,

Sorry about the 70. I understand about not being able to tell us what we got wrong, those questions would circulate pretty fast, not by me of course.

I've been hard on NABCEP, especially privately to Ezra, lots of frustrations taken out on Ezra, but he takes it well, and follows up with thorough explanations about policies, etc. and understands my (and I'm sure others) frustrations and unlike me sometimes, is always polite. Enough sucking up.

Hey, I can't let you go without taking another shot about that ad in Home Power. Even if I pass this time, I will still feel that ad is unfair. We are all in the same industry and we are all trying to make a living here but that ad hits below the belt to highly qualified non certificants.

Thank you.

Larry Liesner
Wirewiz
Westport, CT
Phone: 203-644-2404
Fax: 203-557-0556
wirewiz at gmail.com
www.wire-wiz.com



On Apr 1, 2011, at 12:34 PM, Bob-O Schultze wrote:

> Larry,
> This also from Ezra -who, because of a bit of silliness on the part of the moderator of this list- cannot post here.
> 
> "Larry,
> 
> NABCEP provides test takers with a passing score and a partial breakdown of their score by exam blueprint area. It is always a bit confusing because we report only on those exam blueprint areas where there are sufficient number of questions for the information provided to be relevant. For example informing a candidate that they scored 50% in an area where there were only two questions provided little useful information but informing the same candidate that they scored 50% on an area where there are ten questions clearly informs them that this is an area where further study is required. 
> 
> We do not provide candidates with individual questions they missed as this would have a strong negative impact on the security of the exam. If we informed candidates on individual questions we would have to retire each exam question we did so with which would put a huge burden of developing new questions on our volunteer exam committee. It would also but a burden on the exam itself as we would be continually retiring statically field proven questions.
> 
> I know it is disappointing to candidates to not see the questions they missed, and if I was a candidate I'd likely be frustrated as well. I also know that it is simply not practical to do so and that our procedures are in accordance to established and recognized testing protocols. 
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> Ezra Auerbach
> Executive Director"
> 
> eauerbach at nabcep.org
> 
> To which I also add to replay to your last post:
> You are incorrect that 70 is always the passing grade. It can be a little lower or even a little higher depending on the difficulty of that particular test and if we have identified any questions which have proved to be unclear or ambiguous. It takes time for our testing agency to compile that data. It takes time for our test committee to re-evaluate the questions and how they were answered. Lastly, each and every Certificant (not Entry Level) testing results comes before the Board with the raw information and the recommendations of our committee for a final decision and approval of a passing score. We go to great lengths to make sure all our testing is as fair and unbiased as possible.
> As Ezra points out, it would be HUGELY expensive to have to replace our question pool for every test because we revealed the questions which you missed to you. Surely you can see that those questions would be widely circulated by the time candidates sat for the next test, making them useless.
> Bob-O
> 
> On Apr 1, 2011, at 5:57 AM, wirewiz at gmail.com wrote:
> 
> Ezra,
> 
> Do you follow guidelines as to the "rights and responsibilities" of test takers. Do test takers have a right to see the questions they got wrong?
> 
> Larry Liesner
> Wirewiz
> Westport, CT
> Phone: 203-644-2404
> Fax: 203-557-0556
> wirewiz at gmail.com
> www.wire-wiz.com
> 
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