architect54

In case you didn’t see this. NCARB posted an ARE e-News (November 2009) that discusses Architect Registration Exam scoring. Essentially this is a must read.

You may not learn anything new. The only thing I discovered is that you get credit for correct answers on those choose-the-four-correct-responses questions. So if you checked three correctly and one wrong, you would get credit for three. I previously thought the whole question was wrong.

Make sure you read this e-News. It’s a quick read and it may dispel some scoring confusion you have about the exam. http://www.ncarb.org/are/enews/2009/November/index.html

At the AIANY’s “Got License?” disscussion back in May 2009, NCARB’s representative Nick Serfass provided a lot of information. He discussed that a cut score is set for each architectural registration exam.

It seemed Nick (NCARB) wanted to clear up how the architectural registration exam is graded. Likely there are people out there confused as to why they can’t know their grade and accordingly they question the grading process. Anyway, here is what Nick said.

After getting a group of architects together to create exam questions, NCARB selects a group of architects to establish a “cut score” that is passing for a particular exam. You must score above this cut score in order to pass an exam. If you fail, your score was not above the cut score.

The point being there is a set unpublished passing grade (cut score) for every exam. The cut score has been set by a group of architects for each exam. There you have it. If you failed, your score was not above the cut.

Here’s what Nick did not mention. Exam mistakes are weighted. This is no secret either, moderate versus major deficiencies. Different mistakes count heavier against your grade.

I must disclaim. Everything I’ve said is heresay. The cut score was also discussed (and stressed) last year by the NCARB representative at AIANY’s discussion, “Demystifying the ARE 4.0″. I may have read about this in NCARB literature, but at present I haven’t found a single good NCARB source to reference. What I have found are these recommended readings about architectural registration exam grading. The last one referrences NCARB statements and literature.

ArchVoices ARE Score Reporting
In early 2004 there was an ARE score reporting delay in order to reset the cut scores. This spurred ArchVoices to investigate. If you don’t read the whole article, read “2. NCARB Scoring Process”. (ArchVoices, a now defunct architecture think tank, thankfully has allowed their website to remain archived on the web.)

ArchVoices ARE Score Reporting Follow-Up
This is a follow up to the above.

ARE Forum’s ARE Frequently Asked Questions
This very helpful pdf references NCARB literature to answer ARE FAQ.