Rater discrepancy in the spanish university entrance examination

Authors

  • Marian Amengual Pizarro University of Balearic Islands

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18172/jes.85

Abstract

This study investigated the level of inter-rater and intra-rater reliability of thirty-two raters in the evaluation of the composition subtest of the English Test (ET) in the Spanish University Entrance Examination (SUEE). Raters were asked to evaluate ten compositions holistically on two different scheduled data collection sessions (PRE and POST). The results show that although there are no significant differences between the holistic PRE and POST scores, there exists a substantial discrepancy across raters in relation to consistency and harshness of scoring. On the contrary, results reveal that, in general, raters are self-consistent in the evaluation of compositions. On the basis of these results, and given the way SUEE scores will affect the career of a candidate, it is believed that much more emphasis should be placed on establishing an acceptable level of inter-rater reliability in order to ensure that SUEE results are as fair and consistent as possible.

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Published

29-05-2004

How to Cite

Amengual Pizarro, M. (2004). Rater discrepancy in the spanish university entrance examination. Journal of English Studies, 4, 23–36. https://doi.org/10.18172/jes.85

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