Graduate School Entry Test Joins Computer Era
The biggest change in standardized academic tests since their introduction more than 50 years ago will be announced today, a new computer approach that could make pencil-and-paper tests obsolete.
Before, the more than 400,000 students applying to graduate schools sat in large groups to take the Graduate Record Examination, which is offered five times a year. But beginning today, students can instead sit at computer terminals and take the tests in small groups almost any day.
Other major exams, including the Scholastic Assessment Test taken by college-bound high school students, are expected to follow suit.
Educational Testing Service, the New Jersey-based company that designs and administers the exam, said the new test will provide a more accurate measure of a student’s ability. When a question is answered correctly, a tougher one appears on the screen. An incorrect answer brings up an easier question. The goal is to quickly zero in on a student’s highest ability level.
Right answers to difficult questions earn higher scores. The same grading scale of 200 to 800 points will be used.
The pencil-and-paper version of the GRE will be phased out by 1997.
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