The Effects of Exemptions from Semester Examinations on the Distribution of School Marks

Abstract

The prevailing opinion is that exemptions cause teachers to lower their standards of marking in order that they may be relieved of the burden of grading examination papers, this tendency resulting in a general skew of marks toward the upper end of the distribution curve. Anderson' reports on the distribution of marks in his school for two years before the introduction of an exemption system, for two years with an exemption system, and for two years after its abolishment. His study indicates a decided skew of marks toward the upper end of the distribution curve during the exemption period. He concludes that in his school exemptions played havoc with the marks, causing the teachers to give higher marks than usual. Inasmuch as the writer has used the exemption system in his school for the past four years, he decided to make a study of its effects on the distribution of marks. The study covers a period of eight years, from September, 1922, to June, 1930, of which the first four-year period was without exemptions and the second four-year period was with exemptions. The school is a four-year high school and had an average enrolment of i,o82 pupils during the four-year pre-exemption period and an average enrolment of 1,334 pupils during the four-year exemption period. Pupils having an average mark of 85 per cent or above on the three term reports in a subject