on the cheap and sleazy side (www.cheapandsleazy.net)

Words by Barb DeWitt and Steve Shastay; XHTML by G.D. Warner

How to Analyze a Test

Note Analysis 101

 

Some years back, I raided all of the archived versions of Court Reporting Help.com I could find for interesting articles, and wrapped them all in a .zip file for the interested reader to ... well, read.

While checking my stats today, I found that someone had searched for the formerly non-existent article called "Analysis.html."

Being the curious type, I clicked on the link on my Stats page, and, as I knew it would, it gave me a "File Not Found" error ... but that got me thinking.

Note analysis is an important thing for students o' steno to know ... and having Barb DeWitt's article buried in those zipped .rtf files is ... well ... just plain wrong! So for that person that searched for that non-existent article, this one's for you!

Don't forget to read the "How to Take a Test" if you don't already know ...!

-o0o-

We are often told to transcribe and grade a test a day. That isn't plausible. The student who has just entered a class has only two possible reasons for grading a test. Neither one is very good.

The first reason is to master the fine art of reading crap.   The trouble is that grading crap doesn't teach you to read it. Grading crap gives you a distorted view of your abilities.

Don't get me wrong. Reading crap is a skill. It is a necessary one. Theory people can't do it. The lower speeds have a hard time with it. The middle speeds are where you start mastering this technique. The high speeds should be fluent in crap.

Don't believe me?  At what speed do the students in your school start getting scoping jobs?  If they can read other people's crap on a professional basis, they should be able to read their own crap.

But total crap isn't even usable crap. If you are totally out of control, your error count will be much higher than it should be. No matter how clear you write, if you are pushed beyond your maximum, you will write garbage. And garbage, naturally, is crap.

The second reason for typing all of your tests is because your school insists that you do so. They are trying to turn you into fine reporters by jamming transcription down your throats. It isn't an effective technique.

A student in a new speed doesn't need to read notes that are the result of out-of-control writing. The beginning weeks in a class are usually out of control. (Punctuation note: compare the use of hyphens in the last two sentences.)

It would be much better for that student to grade a test from a different class where their abilities are closer to the goal speed. If you can't do that, try transcribing one of your old drill tapes.

It is very hard to get benefit out of reading total crap. If you are writing total crap, this article isn't for you. If you are anywhere near writing your goal speed, or if you write fairly clearly, this is the secret to grading your test so that you can read between the lines and discover your strengths and weaknesses.

First of all, let's talk about whether you catch all of the word errors when you grade your work.   How often are you surprised by the number of errors that the teacher finds after you have graded your work. If your teachers consistently find 20% more word errors (not spelling or punctuation) than you do, your major problem is lack of attention. Don't read any further. Your problem is lack of attention. The solution starts with grading your papers twice. If this sounds like you, stop reading. Your problem is lack of attention.

Don't make me shout again.

Second, if your teachers consistently find a large number of punctuation errors, you need to be studying your English books. If the teacher adds 20% more errors to your score, you are hampering yourself greatly. You are probably a full speed below where you belong. Everybody will make some errors. The trick to solving punctuation errors is to review the rules that cause you the most trouble.   For instance, what punctuation errors were on your last test?  How about the one before that?  There is probably a pattern.

Third, if your teachers consistently find spelling errors that you have overlooked, you need a good dictionary. Traditional dictionaries are best. Buy whatever kind your school uses as its main dictionary. That way you are using the same reference as those that grade your work. Electronic dictionaries that do not provide definitions are horrible.   If they come with definitions, they are useful if used properly; but none of them provide the information of a good paperback dictionary.

You may want to make up a list of words that constantly give you difficulty. This can be in a notebook or written in the inside cover of your dictionary. This should be a small list of words that you always have to look up. Don't try to write down every word that you have trouble with. That's what the dictionary is for. These are the high-frequency words.

Now, on to the meat and potatoes of grading a test. Why should a test be graded?  Well, yes, we grade tests so that we can pass them. I'm talking about tests that we won't pass. Why should they be graded?

What benefit can you get out grading a test that you know you didn't pass?  Why should we grade everything when we are getting close to passing?

It's not so that we can make up little charts showing our progress. Those charts can really mask problems. Let's take an example. Suppose on Monday you take a really hard test, but you are writing terrific. Still it's a hard test. You fail it. You bomb. You get torpedoed. If you put that on your chart, it will look like you wrote junk.

Now, Thursday comes along. The test is easy as pie, but you are writing trash. Luckily, you can read your trash because the test was so simple. When you put that on your chart, it will appear that you improved over Monday.

You don't improve just because you get a better score. Every test is different. You improve because you write better.

And that is why you grade a test. You do it because you want to see if you are writing better. Let me show you how to grade a test so that you can tell if you are improving.

When you grade, you must indicate what parts are incorrect and you must insert the appropriate changes. The easiest way to do this is to write in the corrections and then circle both the wrong part and the inserted part. When you check your work later, you will be able to see where you made your mistakes.

Please go overboard on this last point. Your graded work must be absolutely clear. You need to know exactly what errors there are and where those errors occurred.

When you have a completed transcript correctly graded in this fashion, you are ready to begin. It is sad to say, but this is where most students stop. They are concerned with the number of errors and nothing else. They never examine their work and further and they never find out why they are not passing.

At this point, you need to check your steno notes against your test. Go to the first error that you made. What strokes did you make?  If it was a sloppy stroke, put a capital S by it. Was it a clear stroke that you misread?  Use an M. And so on. Here is a list of categories that I use on my students' papers.

S       Slop

M       Misread

W       Wrong stroke

P       Punctuation

Sp      Spelling

IN      In notes

D       Drop

E       Endings

This is a simple list. You may have other categories that you need to work on. You may want to break down some of these into smaller groups.

A slop stroke is one that is close to the correct one. You misread it because it is sloppy.

A misread is a good stroke that you did not read correctly.

A wrong stroke is one that is simply incorrect. Usually, this indicates that you were carrying way too much. If you put "company" instead of "corporation," or "correct" instead of "right," you probably carry too much.

Punctuation and spelling errors cannot be tolerated. Hit the books. Stop giving away tests.

An error labeled "In notes" means attention to detail. You had it. It was correct. You didn't transcribe it.

A drop is the same everywhere. You dropped it. 'Nuff said.

The last one, "Endings," needs a little explanation. This is meant to include final d, g, and s. If you have major problems with these or with one in particular, you may split them up. Do not group these endings with other endings such as gs or rbl. They are entirely different. Make another category for other endings if you need to.

Once you have every single stinking error pigeonholed, add up your totals for each category. Which one is the largest?  Most of the time, if a student is close to passing a speed, the largest category has enough errors to control the outcome of a test. If you make the errors, it's a transcript. If you don't make the errors, it's a passed test.

Grade three tests a week this way. Do not choose the easiest or the hardest. If you have a bad day, don't choose anything from that day. Always choose tests that reflect your abilities. If you don't have problems starting a test, but today you did, don't use that test. Pick something that shows your abilities.

To recap, grade three tests a week. Compare those three to last week's three tests. Work on the largest category of errors.

Always concentrate on the largest category of errors.

Why?  Because it is your weakness. Work at it until it is not a weakness.

Knowledge is power.

Use it.

-o0o-