Appealing exam outcomes

CLEAR Exam Review (Winter 1997)
Norman Hertz

Question: On what grounds should appeals of examination results be considered?

Answer: The basis for examination appeals is to provide candidates a means to correct injustices or wrongs during the examination administration and scoring. Even with the best procedures in place, incidents or events may occur that cause unequal treatment for candidates. Therefore, boards should thoughtfully identify the situations and conditions for which examination results can be appealed.

Most boards provide candidates with opportunities to appeal examination results. However, there is less opportunity to appeal written examinations than there is for practical or oral examinations. Appeals for written examination results are typically based on some unusual environmental condition severe enough to cause a major disruption in the examination and which the board could have avoided. For example, the noise from a fire truck siren passing by during the examination would not be sufficient grounds for an appeal, but not allowing a candidate additional time for the time lost to replace a defective test booklet might be. Properly completed incident report forms are essential documents to have available when reviewing requests for appeals.

Such a situation is much different from an appeal request that is made because a candidate failed an examination. If the board feels confident that the examination was scored correctly and the pass/fail list was generated accurately, then in this case the board would be justified in stating that there are no appeal procedures for failing an examination.

Appeal procedures for practical and oral examinations are much more problematic because candidates are more likely, and rightly so, to challenge the results. In practical examinations where candidates are required to perform a dental procedure or solve an engineering problem, the personal preference of the examiner/observer may influence the scoring. While training will reduce the effect of examiner bias, the subjectivity of the process could unfairly influence the outcome of the examination. In an oral examination, there are additional elements such as the ability of the examiners to stay alert, personality issues, or manner of dress that influence the outcome of the examination. Therefore, it is essential to the fairness process that candidates have the right to appeal.

If the examination results are successfully challenged and the board finds that the candidate was not afforded an equal opportunity to succeed, then what are the options? The most reasonable approach would be to offer the candidate another opportunity to sit for the examination at no additional cost to the candidate. The board could offer a special examination earlier than the next scheduled examination, if that is feasible. However, it is not mandatory. In unusual circumstances, the board could pass the candidate if a review demonstrated that the candidate actually passed--but changing the results is an unusual remedy if the examination is developed and administered according to the appropriate testing standards. If the score is wrong then the person should receive the correct score. Mistakes do occur. The integrity of the process dictates that not only those who complain should have a second review, however. Fairness should be your guide.

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