Exam Fiasco

Posted by Aiddy on Sun 16 August 2020

Exam fiasco in three books

The (still ongoing) exam fiasco in three books:

  • What went wrong — Cathy O'Neil on algorithms that "exploit people and distort the truth while posing as neutral mathematical tools".
  • Why that matters — Richard Wilkinson & Kate Pickett on "how more equal societies are better for everyone".
  • How it could happen — Philip E. Tetlock on how "people that make prediction their business are rarely held accountable".

ofqual published a technical report which neatly explains (in §9.5 & §8.4) how their model is biased in favour of small cohorets. Those just happen to be most independent (aka private) schools.

It's probably a good time to remind myself of the blurb for Mistakes were made but not by me:

> Why do people dodge responsibility when things fall apart? Why the parade of public figures unable to own up when they screw up? Why the endless marital quarrels over who is right? Why can we see hypocrisy in others but not in ourselves? Are we all liars? Or do we really believe the stories we tell?

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