Normalisation kills CBSE/ISC scorers: a devastaing example with actual data sources

This article was submitted by Chandrasekhar Balachandran, a candidate who appeared for KEAM 2011. This will provide an insight into how a CBSE student is subject to a shot in the back as per normalization and the data of mean and standard deviation released by the CEE website. This article uses the data exactly as per in the official documents released to arrive at the “after normalization” section. No guess work was done whatsoever. However, in case you find something here that is totally wrong, comment and let us know. We will publish your side of the story after verification.

To know the standard deviation and mean marks of different boards, refer the official KEAM 2011 Highlights. To know how we calculated the normalised marks and the shifts, read the official document on How Normalisation Works

A SAMPLE SCORE SHEET

“To a question at a subsequent question-and-answer session, he said normalisation would imply an inherent advantage for the Kerala stream in relation to other streams, including the CBSE and the ISC.” – The Hindu, 11 May 2011

Consider a sample mark sheet of two students from different syllabi:

STREAM ENTRANCE MARK BOARD MARK TOTAL

CBSE 320/960 240/300 560/1260

KERALA 280/960 317/340 560/1260

WHY WE CHOSE SUCH A SCORE SHEET

First, let me explain why we put in a variation in board marks for the two students. CBSE Physics, Chemistry and Math exams have a maximum scorable mark of 100. The maximum marks for Physics and Chemistry for State syllabus is 120. Their Math paper, however is out of 100. So we chose a total score 317/340 which when converted into 300 marks will be approximately equal to 280. Thus total score of both students when the score is adjusted without normalization(entrance mark out of 960 and board marks out of 300after aforementioned conversion) will be approximately equal.

State student Board Marks conversion: (317/340)*300 = 280

To find total score: 280 (Entrance marks) + 280 (converted Board marks) = 560/1260

Let the marks of CBSE student be 90, 70 and 80 for Maths, Physics and Chemistry respectively. When subject to normalization, the data takes a swing.

AFTER NORMALISATION

(calculation done as per the data given in KEAM 2011 Highlights and How Normalisation Works, both released officially by CEE Kerala official website)

SCORE OF CBSE STUDENT

SUBJECT INITIAL NORMALISED SHIFT

Maths 90 81.6719 -8.3218

Physics 70 78.4805 +8.4805

Chemistry 80 81.6614 +1.6614

TOTAL SCORE AFTER NORMALISATION: 241.8138/300

Converting this to 500 we have a final board mark score 403.023/500

Since the State result does not undergo normalization mathematics (because it is taken as the basis of comparison) we can directly convert the State student’s score into 500:

(317/340) * 500 = 466.1765

Let us just take it as 466 to keep it simple (We are not that stingy to complain about each fourth decimal point, but be aware four decimal places are taken according to the CEE official documents).

THE CLIMAX OF THE ARTICLE

Now we can finally get to the point. Take a look at the table and see how conveniently this is a crown of thorns for the CBSE student.

STREAM ENTRANCE MARK BOARD MARK TOTAL

CBSE 166/500 403/500 569/1000

KERALA 145/500 466/500 611/1000

Now take another look: Those who had equal marks in 1260 are separated by 42 marks when it came to 1000 after normalisation. Is it me or is this the way it is supposed to work: giving state sylabiian an advantage by putting the CBSE student at undue disadvantage?

OUR SUGGESTIONS

An exam when conducted should give each student a fair shot at it. Reforms should not be introduced so that a particular set of students are given a push to the top. If the government expects the stat students to fare better, I suggest they improve the faculty, conduct continuous valuation and improvise on the teaching methods.