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Paperless TestingBy Vincent Law Last fall, Andreas Schulz, CC '98, faced a dilemma. Schulz was applying to graduate schools and needed to submit scores from the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). In the midst of a hectic first term of his senior year, Schulz could not spare the time to take the general GRE administered in November. "I had a lot of things to do before Christmas, so I couldn't take the test until after finals," he said. But the next administration of the paper-based test was in April, and Schulz wanted to be receiving admissions letters by that time, not sending out test scores. The solution? The GRE's Computer Based Test (CBT). While the paper exam is held only twice a year, the CBT is offered any day of the week in the first two or three weeks of every month. Educational Testing Service (ETS), which administers the exams, plans to completely phase out the paper-based general GRE by the 1999-2000 testing season.
Convenience—at a price
First introduced by the ETS on a limited basis in the fall of 1992, the CBT forgoes number two pencils and Scantron forms in favor of mice and computer screens. Why computerized testing? In addition to greater flexibility of test dates, ETS cites shorter exams, the ability to view scores immediately after the test, and the quick turnaround on score reports (scores are mailed out in 10-15 days for the CBT, versus six weeks for the paper-based test) as major benefits of the new format. However, to some students, these benefits come at a cost. The CBT is a computer-adaptive test, meaning the questions on the exam are personally selected for each test-taker. After one answers the first question in a section of the CBT, the computer presents a question based on individual performance on the preceding questions: a harder question for a correct answer and an easier question for a wrong answer. Answering early questions incorrectly can cause a severe drop in an examinee's score, as the easier questions are worth less than the more difficult ones. Since the computer scores questions before presenting subsequent ones, CBT takers cannot go back to previous questions or skip around as they could in the paper-based test. According to ETS, computer-adaptive testing reduces the time spent answering questions that are either too easy or too difficult. Studies conducted by ETS indicate that scores on the CBT are comparable to those on the paper-based test. As a result of the adaptive quality of the CBT and a large pool of questions for the computer to draw upon, examinees in the same room end up taking different tests. While this greatly decreases the possibility of cheating, it also makes it difficult for ETS to disclose test questions without revealing a large part of their pool of questions. This issue was a matter of contention in the New York State legislature, which pioneered the concept of testing accountability. In 1980, the state introduced a law which enabled students to obtain, for a fee, copies of certain standardized examinations. ETS and other testing companies vigorously opposed the original law, but it remains in effect. In November 1996, however, the legislature passed a law that allowed ETS to continue using the CBT in New York while the company develops new disclosure methods.
57 percent of all GRE examinees now take it on a computer
Concerns about the lack of disclosure and the method by which tests are formed on the fly have made some Yalies reluctant to take the CBT. "Before the test I was nervous in some sense. The computer-based test is a little more random," said Schulz. For some, experience and comfort with paper tests were a deciding factor. Gabriel Bell, TC '98, chose to stick with the paper exam. "I've been used to paper tests in the past, and they've always treated me right, so I figured, why mess with it?" Nonetheless, national trends appear to indicate that many GRE takers do not mind using the new technology. According to ETS statistics, 18,000 of the 430,000 students who took the GRE took the CBT in 1992, the first year that it was offered. In the 1994-1995 testing season, 70,000 out of 440,000 test-takers took the CBT. ETS now estimates that the number of CBT examinees nationally has jumped to 57 percent of all GRE takers. Despite the growing popularity of the CBT, graduate-school admissions officers have not seen much of a change in the admissions process. According to Russell Berg, Dean of Graduate Admissions at Harvard, ETS does not indicate on score reports whether or not a GRE score is from a CBT, nor does it provide statistics breaking down paper-based test and CBT results. "I would guess about half of our applicants submitted the computer-based scores...we haven't sat down to study the differences," Dean Berg said. Largely due to the lack of discernible differences between the two forms of tests, admissions offices have seen little worry from applicants. "When the computer-based test initially was launched, we had some applicants who were concerned about using that method of testing. But after that first year we have had few comments or complaints," said Betsy Livak, Director of Graduate Admissions at UC Berkeley. Dean Berg said that there have been "remarkably few questions." He speculated that since most graduate-school applicants take the GRE only once, CBT takers have no basis for comparisons or complaints. "Neither students nor faculty [who are involved in admissions decisions] have raised concerns," Berg said.
Coming soon: The Computerized SAT
As for ETS's other exams, the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) has been fully computerized since the fall of 1997, and there are plans in the works for the computerization of the test that ETS is most synonymous with: the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). For people like Andreas Schulz, that is perfectly fine. Despite his qualms about taking the computerized version of the GRE, Schulz said that, after taking the test, he would choose the CBT over the paper exam. His main reasons were the shorter testing time and the immediate display of scores. "Seeing the score was a relief.... It takes away the worrying. I'd rather get bad news right away," Schulz said. Luckily, Schulz's news wasn't too bad. He was accepted to all four graduate schools to which he applied.
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