Today's the day

[McEngr]

Today's the day of the workshop put on by NCEES grading all of us wannabe SE's that took the April exams. Best of luck everyone. I've been praying for the reviewers today - that they be fair, not that I necessarily pass. I don't believe God to be a genie in a bottle...

 

[Chosen One]

So I'm guessing majority of us will see results on Monday or Tuesday? The SE results last fall were released (in my state) slightly less than 2 months from exam day(s).

 

[kozarrat]

Do we know whether this workshop will finalize the results to be released or merely a middle step.

 

[kozarrat]

That's what I've assumed too. I'm guessing we are probably at least couple weeks from release.

 

[jessie74]

Today's the day of the workshop put on by NCEES grading all of us wannabe SE's that took the April exams. Best of luck everyone. I've been praying for the reviewers today - that they be fair, not that I necessarily pass. I don't believe God to be a genie in a bottle...

I am a little suprised to know that they just started the grading. All the exams except SE are machine-graded. So what did they do in the past two months?

 

[Chosen One]

Maybe I'm way off on this, but I thought the exams were already graded and this event was to basically "set" the cut score. I hope we all don't have to wait another few weeks...

 

[tachi1247]

Maybe I'm way off on this, but I thought the exams were already graded and this event was to basically "set" the cut score. I hope we all don't have to wait another few weeks...

Thinking you have to be right. Tomorrow is 8 weeks from the exam so it is way too late to start grading the things now. We are supposed to get results as early as today and no later than 2 weeks from today so it seems likely that you are correct. After the exams are graded they are supposed to go back and compare the exam to previous years and normalize the scores based on the problems that carry over from year to year to account for the test being easier/harder from year to year.

 

[Mike in Gastonia]

Thinking you have to be right. Tomorrow is 8 weeks from the exam so it is way too late to start grading the things now. We are supposed to get results as early as today and no later than 2 weeks from today so it seems likely that you are correct. After the exams are graded they are supposed to go back and compare the exam to previous years and normalize the scores based on the problems that carry over from year to year to account for the test being easier/harder from year to year.

Here's what's on the ncees website:

Reporting scores

SE exam results are typically released to the licensing boards 10–12 weeks after the exam. Depending on your state, you will be notified of your exam result either online through your My NCEES account or via postal mail from your state licensing board.

And in the update they posted on their website about scores, they said:

The scoring workshop for the SE exam will be held June 7–9, so results will not be released until the scores are processed following the workshop.

So where are you hearing that you're supposed to get results as early as today and no later than 2 weeks?

 

[tachi1247]

On the scoring section it says results are usually reported to licensing boards 8-10 weeks after the exam. I don't recall every seeing the 10-12 weeks you quoted on the SE specific page until just now. I wonder if they added that recently.

Anyway, results for the October 28, 2011 exam were sent out to licensing boards on December 16th and people started getting results as early as December 20th.

That is only 7 weeks from the exam date to notify the boards and under 8 weeks before people started receiving notification. If it really takes 10-12 weeks that is going to suck hard. I am in limbo as it is since Illinois requires you to apply to take the exam and my application has expired and I only need to re-apply if I didn't pass (which costs $$ plus the hassle). Unfortunately, the application deadline was May 15th so supposedly I have an exception where they will accept my application for the fall exam as long as I submit it within a week of receiving my results. The longer it takes to get the results, the less confident I am that things will work out for me if I need to retake it.

 

[kozarrat]

The scoring workshop for the SE exam will be held June 7–9, so results will not be released until the scores are processed following the workshop.

This is a pretty clear statement. They take their sweet time before scoring then.

 

[tachi1247]

The scoring workshop for the SE exam will be held June 7–9, so results will not be released until the scores are processed following the workshop.

This is a pretty clear statement. They take their sweet time before scoring then.

I guess I read that differently. To me it says that they are going to "process" the scores after the workshop not that they are "scoring" the exams at the workshop. I always thought that the workshop is where they set the acceptable, needs improvement, unacceptable criteria for each question based on the grades people received (normalizing the test to previous years' exam) and thus determine the passing score for the exam.

Just from a pure numbers standpoint, if they have 2000 exams and it takes an hour for each exam to be graded (15 min per question) & recorded that would be 4000 man hours since each exam is scored twice. 4000 hours over (3) 10 hour days would take 133 graders and I don't think they have that many. Maybe I'm way off on the # of exams, but I think 1 hour per exam is also slightly optimistic and I sat in a room with well over 100 people in it so it could be reasonable.

 

[Rhoadies]

I think that they have already graded the multiple choice part of the exams, and are using this time to grade the subjective afternoon portion.

From the NCEES website:

Structural Scoring Workshop

The NCEES Structural Engineering Exam Development Committee will meet in Clemson, South Carolina, to score the Structural Engineering PE exams. Responses are graded by teams of subject matter experts using an agreed-upon solution and scoring plan. Each response is graded by two subject matter experts; a third grader is used when needed. Click here for more information.

An article from Structure mag discussing how the Structural II exam is scored will shed some light about what happens at the scoring workshops. I found this very informative and it's not hard to see how this could translate to the afternoon portion of our exam. See here for the article http://www.structuremag.org/OldArchives/2004/march/NCEES%20changes%20format%20of%20str%20exam%20online%20version.pdf

 

[Rhoadies]

well crap, that didn't show up like I thought it would. The link on the NCEES site for the workshop data is http://www.ncees.org/About_NCEES/Events/Event_Pages/Structural_Scoring_Workshop.php

 

[dakota_79]

a third grader is used when needed.

Makes sense. Most 2nd graders aren't strong in multiplication yet, so can see them having trouble grading that stuff.

Couldn't resist, sorry!

 

[daedalus34r]

My previous assumption was late June for results, I would be surprised to find results being released now.

 

[kozarrat]

My previous assumption was late June for results, I would be surprised to find results being released now.

The lady from NCEES I spoke to after my exam said 10-12 weeks which means late june to mid july. I had hoped that was a conservative estimate but who knows.

 

[Mike in Gastonia]

The lady from NCEES I spoke to after my exam said 10-12 weeks which means late june to mid july. I had hoped that was a conservative estimate but who knows.

That's their "official" line on their website. But usually they release them before that.

 

[Layman]

FYI, based on the archived news from NCEES pasted below, last year's April Structural results were release 11 days after work shop.

NCEES seeks structural engineering volunteers

May 6, 2011

NCEES is currently seeking structural engineers specializing in building design to participate in a standard-setting study for the new SE exam. Selected volunteers will review the 16-hour SE exam, which was first administered in April 2011, and rate the difficulty of each item on the exam.

Those selected for the study will not only help NCEES determine the passing score for the SE exam for the April administration but will also assist in setting a baseline for passing scores for the next several years. The standard-setting study will take place June 17–18, 2011, at NCEES headquarters in Clemson, South Carolina. Travel and lodging expenses will be paid by NCEES

Update on April 2011 exam results

June 30, 2011

All April 2011 exam results have been released to NCEES member licensing boards. Release dates for each exam were

• FS and PS: May 11
  
• FE: May 16
  
• PE: May 25
  
• SE: June 29
  

 

[ADB]

Looks like the Illinois SE board is going to have a 2-day meeting June 19/20. That would be 11 days after June 9 (last day of grading session).

To: STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING BOARD

Benjamin R. Baer, Chairman

David L. Greifzu, Vice-Chairman

David R. Bibbs, Member

Steven E. Bishop, Member

Nancy Gavlin, Member

John Harms, Member

From: M. David Brim, Design Licensing Manager

Design Unit/Professional Services Section

Date: May 31, 2012

RE: Business Meeting Notice – June 19, 2012

The Structural Engineering Board will convene for a two-day business meeting

commencing at 9:00 a.m. on

Tuesday, June 19, 2012 in the Springfield office of the

Department, 320 West Washington St., Springfield, Illinois 62786, Conference

Room 202N.

The business agenda is attached.

 

[bmc846]

What is the purpose of the Illinois board having a 2 day meeting? I know that the state releases their own scores but do they do any score revisions of their own to the NCEES release?