Re: Assessment; evaluation of GRE scores

[Jim Peters <Jim.Peters@HILLSDALE.EDU>]

Brian Whatcott wrote:
> It is your background, even your duty, not to take assertions on trust.
> > For example, how would you *know* what texts are in most Chinese physics
departments?   You might have been party to some conversations wherein
> two or three Chinese physics graduates remark that they had access to back
> year GRE exams.
> Even that's hear-say.

The evidence presented by the web site
http://www.pha.jhu.edu/groups/sps/physicsgre.html  seems much stronger than
that. However any evidence for or against that information would be
appreciated.  (It is very difficult to read this web page because the
background and the print are both dark.  For those of you who are having
trouble reading it you can select the text or print it to make it more
legible.)

> And for my part, I opine that if you find numerous Asian masters and PhDs
> at research institutions, it's pretty certain its not because they had
> access to the CURRENT YEAR'S exams when they took them.

The Current Year's exam contains questions from exams given over past years
according to the past ETS official in the web site above. Here is a quote
from the same site.
                2) For statistical purposes (cross-normalization of scores,
validation of a test, etc.) a new examination must have about 30
of its 100 questions taken from a
                previous examination.
                . . . .
                4) The median number of right answers on the exam hovered a
little          below 30.

> You're likely to
> find they are both smart, and steeped in years of heavy duty study, driven
> initially by parental expectations and continued by an ambition of a
> particular sort.

I certainly agree.  It is my experience that Asian graduate students are
possibly the smartest of all. I have always assumed that this was the
explanation for this great difference in scores, I am just not so sure
anymore and am seeking evidence of any abuse by any group which might effect
the validity of the test.
Jim

Jim Peters
Hillsdale College