Is PSLE so important?

[turquoise]

lwm99:

atutor2001:

The best estimate of the T score that I know of is to multipy the total score of 4 subjects by 0.72. This has proven to be quite a good estimate. Therefore, to get a T score of 245, a child needs to get an average of 85 marks for the 4 subjects.

Likely the 4 subjects have different average marks (and standard deviation). Example Maths may have higher average mark than English. So a kid needs to get higher marks in those \"easier-to-score\" subjects to get a good T-score.

So which are the \"easier to score subjects\"? And which is the hardest to score?

[csc]

[quote]The best estimate of the T score that I know of is to multipy the total score of 4 subjects by 0.72. This has proven to be quite a good estimate. Therefore, to get a T score of 245, a child needs to get an average of 85 marks for the 4 subjects.


[/quote]I beg to differ. Please refer to my post below.

Hi all

The link below explains how the PSLE T-score is calculated.

http://road-to-psle.blogspot.com/2007/11/how-psle-aggregate-and-t-scores-are.html

There is also a T-Score aggregate calculator on the same page. You can use that to estimate your child's T-score. Bear in mind that factors such as difficulty level of papers and the performance of your child in comparison to his cohort's will determine the score.

[atutor2001]

lwm99:

Likely the 4 subjects have different average marks (and standard deviation). Example Maths may have higher average mark than English. So a kid needs to get higher marks in those \"easier-to-score\" subjects to get a good T-score.

Thanks CSC and Iwm99

I fully agree with your comments that the same mark will not earn the same T-score for different papers.

The estimate was intended as a gauge to find out the equivalent actual score that a student needs to get inorder to achieve a certain T-score. This estimate was derived purely from empirical data of past records - not mathematical method. Basic assumption for the estimate to work is that the standard of the PSLE paper must not deviate too much from the past years. Therefore, the estimate will be \"off\" if this year's paper is extremely difficult. (When the papers are difficult, the top scorer will get very high T-score - nearing 290.)

[Dharma]

atutor2001:

Basic assumption for the estimate to work is that the standard of the PSLE paper must not deviate too much from the past years. Therefore, the estimate will be \"off\" if this year's paper is extremely difficult. (When the papers are difficult, the top scorer will get very high T-score - nearing 290.)

Hi atutor2001,

Is it true then that the 2007 PSLE exam was very difficult considering the number of pupils w/ very high scores?

[atutor2001]

Dharma:

atutor2001:

Is it true then that the 2007 PSLE exam was very difficult considering the number of pupils w/ very high scores?

Yes I would say so. It means that the average marks for a number of subjects is low. So those who did well (A*) will get relatively higher T-score than other years.

Do you notice that in most years, the top student is Malay? One possible factor is that the average mark of the \"Malay\" mother tongue paper is usually much lower than the \"Chinese\" paper. So these students will have an advantage over the Chinese students when their marks are converted to T-score. Therefore, the top student in 2007 might have gotten higher T-score from the mother tongue paper even though the actual score is the same as the Chinese counterpart.

[Merlion]

atutor2001, very good point !

[Dharma]

atutor2001:

Dharma:

[quote=\"atutor2001\"]


Do you notice that in most years, the top student is Malay? One possible factor is that the average mark of the \"Malay\" mother tongue paper is usually much lower than the \"Chinese\" paper. So these students will have an advantage over the Chinese students when their marks are converted to T-score. Therefore, the top student in 2007 might have gotten higher T-score from the mother tongue paper even though the actual score is the same as the Chinese counterpart.

[/quote]There were only 2 Malay pupils in recent years who topped the cohort ie. in 2005 and 2007.

I don’t think MT has as much an impact on the aggregate score as compared to Maths, Science and English as these 3 subjects have a much lower average score compared to MT.

To be fair to the 2007 top Malay girl, she is still doing extremely well in RGS.

[Merlion]

Please don’t forget that for CL, there are kids from China who are 2 years older than our kids. It is so hard to be among the top students in CL for local kids as compare to other languages. And there are a lot of China students here.

[Dharma]

Merlion:

Please don't forget that for CL, there are kids from China who are 2 years older than our kids. It is so hard to be among the top students in CL for local kids as compare to other languages. And there are a lot of China students here.

Agreed but they are not as strong in English.

[turquoise]

Dharma:

Agreed but they are not as strong in English.

Actually, a number of them do score very well in English. They may not speak well but they do perform well in written English.